Security

Lovie. Blankie. Bubbie. There are many different names but they all refer to the same thing ... security. Mainly, security in the form of a blanket or stuffed animal. All four of my kiddos have some sort of security item and it has been interesting to watch them mature with these blankets and animals in tow. I had a security blanket myself (Blankie, to be exact) and I can remember exactly what he looked like (oh yes, blankets DO have a gender) and what it felt like to rub his satin corners as I fell asleep. And although Blankie has made his way to blanket heaven, it's been fun to watch my kids adopt and love security items of their own.

Every lovie in our house has its own distinct personality and features created by the child that owns him/her. I thought it would be fun to profile each child's lovie and his/her characteristics for future posterity. I mean, when Sam is president someday, the media will surely want to know what type of lovie he had as a 3 year old, right? Right. So here we go.

This is Bubbie, Luke's blanket, and his beloved pillow.

FYI, Bubbie is a boy (as Luke only refers to him as a "he"). Sadly, Bubbie is permanently scrunched up like this. This was as straight as I could get him to lay down. It's actually my fault because the lunatic who designed the blanket says it should be hand washed delicately with mild soap with a pause every 10 seconds to let it "rest" or something crazy like that. And then you're not supposed to dry it. Yeah, the dreaded "line dry." Someone apparently forgot to tell this company that they are manufacturing children's security blankets and there is no way you can take this blanket away from a child for the time it would take for it to line dry. So I just washed and dried it normally and the thing kinda shrunk on me. Luke doesn't seem to care though and that's all that matters.

The disgusting thing next to Bubbie is Luke's pillow. It looks this way because Luke refuses to keep the pillowcase on the pillow. I have no idea why. I have even tried to safety pin and duct tape the pillow case onto the pillow and that kid still manages to get it off in record time. So I let him sleep on the disgusting, drool stained, snot dribbled pillow. It's gross. And the worst part is that I can't wash this pillow! I am in the market for a pillow with an irremovable case. But I guess that wouldn't work if I couldn't remove it to wash it. Whatever, he can sleep in his own dried-up bodily fluids if he so desires.

Next up are Adah's lovies.

Adah sleeps with a smorgasbord of animals and blankets. She is probably the least attached to her lovies (I'm guessing because her loyalty is divided by four), but it would still be pretty devastating if she didn't have them to go to sleep at night. On the left is Babbity Bunny (named from a book). I should note that she stole this bunny from Luke when he was a baby and never looked back. I kept trying to put him back in Luke's crib and he would magically keep reappearing under Adah's covers every night, so I let it go. The newest member of her entourage in the center is Tadpole the frog. Tadpole is very well-loved and I often find him between Adah's arms at night. On the right is Bunny Rabbit (original, I know). I feel bad for Bunny Rabbit and Babbity because they are kinda on the fringes of Adah's inner circle of lovies. But they still get invited to all the parties, so it's all good.

Finally, on the bottom is Kitty. Kitty is the only girl in the group, so you know she must have some serious girl power going on in order to tame all those boys (they ARE rabbits ... and we all know the saying about rabbits and what they like to do ... a lot. Just sayin'). Kitty is the veteran of the group as she has been around since Adah was born. Adah and Kitty do have a bit of an odd relationship though. Rather than rubbing Kitty or holding her, Adah prefers to lick Kitty. Yes, lick. She'll put herself to sleep by sticking out her tongue just a bit and rubbing Kitty back and forth across it. Weird? Yes. Weird for Adah? No. And if it works for her, it works for me. We'll just have to work on breaking that habit before she heads to college or she may find herself in a single faster than you can say, "Babbity Bunny."

Next up is Sam.

Yup, just one. Or, it just LOOKS like he has just one lovie. In Sam's effort to perpetually complicate things, he has informed us that his lovie, Blankie (yes, carrying on the tradition of my blanket's name), is actually TWO things. Yes, his blankie has schizophrenia. What you see in front of you, the big blue fleece blanket, is indeed "Blankie." But you need to look a little closer to see his second personality.

Even closer ...

There. Now I know that this just looks like Blankie's tag. But if you thought that you would be sorely mistaken. You see, this is actually Taggie, Blankie's second self. Taggie is where the magic happens because Sam needs to be rubbing Taggie, thumb in mouth, when he falls asleep. Essentially, the tag is all Sam really needs. So it's kinda cumbersome and slightly annoying that this little ole one inch long Taggie is attached to a 30x40 inch Blankie. I guess a lot of the good things in life come with a lot of extra baggage.

Oh, and Taggie and Blankie are males. In case you're keeping score, that's one girl and six boys. The males certainly have the corner on the security market in our house.

Finally, we have Peyton.

Peyton is, far and away, the child most attached to her lovies. I think all of our kids would be able to eventually settle down and go to sleep at night without their security items. All of them but Peyton. I think she would stay up all night if she did not have these guys. On the left is BB the lamb. BB is a boy, Peyton has emphatically informed me of this numerous times if I get it wrong. And BB has been with Peyton since birth. We were so worried at one point about what would happen if we lost or misplaced BB. My mom even bought Peyton a replacement BB. He is the exact same blanket and even has her name on it. To get a picture of how "well loved" BB is, here's a picture of BB and his would be replacement.

I swear I wash BB. In fact, he was washed right before this picture was taken. But love (and constant handling) has a way of dulling your colors some times. BB is more of a gray now than a bright white. We're hoping we don't ever have to use the replacement (who has been dubbed "Bobo", BB's sister ... ha!), but you never know. We know Peyton wouldn't be duped into thinking the replacement was actually the real BB, but hopefully it would soften the blow if that travesty ever presented itself.

We also can't forget the guy in the picture next to BB. That, my friends, is Wonkie. Yes, you read that right. Peyton came up with that name all by herself, so who knows where it came from. Wonkie is distinctly a girl and if BB and Wonkie were to square off in a cage match, I think Wonkie would be the one to earn Peyton's favor first. Although Wonkie just looks like a plain old blanket, don't let that fool you. According to Peyton she has some very human characteristics. For example, see that white patch on her in the bottom right corner? I know it appears to be a label, but it's actually Wonkie's mouth. Who knew? And see that little speck in the center of Wonkie? See it? You may have to squint really hard. Look very closely ....

See it now? I know it looks like a teeny tiny piece of Wonkie that has come unraveled, but you would be wrong to think that. See, that is Wonkie's nose ... duh. Isn't it obvious? And I know now that you're saying, "Ok, Wonkie has a mouth and a nose, so where are her eyes?" Seems like a logical question, right? Well, Wonkie, according to Peyton, has no eyes. So we apparently bought our daughter a blind lovie with a label mouth and a nubbin nose. We're good parents, just say it. But at least we've taught our kids that we shouldn't shun someone based on their lack of sight, right? Yeah, we teach that kind of empathy all the time around here.

So there you have it, the lovies of the Clifford house. I can only hope that one day they all join my Blankie (now referred to as Blankie, Sr.) in blanket heaven one day. And, if they don't, well the kids will be old enough at that point to explain why they love (or lick) the sightless, tagged blanket of their choice. I'm going to stay out of that one.