I have thought about writing this blog post for a while. When I did the laundry and folded a very special pile of blankets the other day, I realized it was time…
What I did NOT realize was just how much these little guys mean to me! I mean, I’ve known they were special. I’ve known that for a really long time. What I didn’t know was that taking a few snapshots of some VERY special blankets would send me on a 8.5 year memory kick. That I would scroll through albums on my computer… get a little choked up, sniffle,laugh and remember. (Literally, until I got a little queasy from scrolling for so long). I made it to August 2010!
I now have a folder on my desktop called “blankets”… and more and more images will be added to that folder!
I jokingly titled this post “attachment parenting”, by the way. I do not classify myself as any type of parent. I respect my kids as people from the minute they are born, I love them, cuddle them, yell at them, let them cry, feed them healthy foods, have fun with them, feed them cookies, get tired, frustrated, angry…. I teach them, sing with them, embarrass them, encourage them. And probably even more than that.
And somehow I got 4 amazing people… who love 4 amazing blankets.
Sage’s blanket was initially called “Beeka” as she learned to say blanket. I thought it was the CUTEST name ever.. and hoped she call it that forever. She calls it blanket now!
We initially thought she’d be attached to “bear bear”.. but quickly realized it was the blanket she chose. Which makes me SO happy, because it was the ONLY thing Keith and I bought for her before she was born. I had a devastating miscarriage before Sage…. coupled with the Jewish tradition of not setting up/buying for your baby until it is born.. I couldn’t bring myself to buy anything else. We didn’t know if she’d be a girl or boy.. but we saw this blanket in Kohl’s…. felt it, and was sold. The fact that it’s her favorite… perfection.
My sister got Bryar her blanket from Target. It quickly became her favorite… specifically ONE corner. We used to bunch all the corners up together (before it was visible which was which) and she ALWAYS knew which corner it was. After years of thumb-sucking with her blanket/corner… the whole back ripped off and was replaced. You can see the new corner is ripping as well. I have no intention of forcing her to stop sucking her thumb. She’ll stop when she’s ready, I’m sure!
Once our kids turn 3.5, they are supposed to leave their blankets in their room. They can visit as they please… but they can’t bring them down (except on Movie night.. of course! Or when they’re sick). Bryar’s blanket is ALWAYS at the top of our steps. She sucks her thumb til the last second…. drops.. and begins her day!
Chases blanket came from the same collection as Bryar’s at Target. He fell in love quickly. We got a replacement… which is now dubbed “warm blanket” and never gets touched. He HATES it. We tried forever to get him attached to it as well.. but it didn’t work. Chase SUCKS on his blanket. It’s pretty gross! But cute…. and Rowen followed in his footsteps.
Since Chase and Bryar loved their Target blankets SO much, we decided to buy the new version for Rowen when he was born. We diligently wrapped him in it, nursed him while holding it, etc… we even thought for a second maybe that was it!Until we realized that in fact it was a little yellow blanket with brown border given by Keiths cousin. We bought another IMMEDIATELY and this time it worked! Which is great because they are TINY… and we lost one once. So I bought TWO more.. from Australia (which is the only place they were still being sold)… those.. he hates. He calls them “Soft Bubbe”! Rowen named his blankets “Bubbe” (like a Jewish grandma) and still calls them that to this day. He is now 3.5…. the magic age of leaving blankets in his room. Which I can’t bring myself to enforce for somer reason. He doesn’t bring them everywhere… but all of my neighbors are VERY familiar with Bubbe.
These little pieces of fabric… yellow, pink, blue, brown… have been centerpieces of LIFE for my kids. And centerpieces of motherhood for me. They have the power to INSTANTLY relax, calm and soothe my babies. For that I am grateful… and I will admit.. these little blankets have made their way into our lives and will forever be part of them.
I love them… I’m attached to them. I would not encourage my kids to continue to use them when they decide they are done.. but I will be nostalgic and sad. All of them at one time or another have decided they were done with their blankets… didn’t need them to sleep. They placed them on the end of their bed…
And when I went to check on the before I went to bed… EACH of them had gotten their blanket back!
I wouldn’t mind if they took them to college!
Do your kids have a lovey? Are you attached?
