Comfort

I am a huge  believer in the blankie.  I had one when I was little:

I think it’s so great that they have this one thing that helps them feel better, drift off to dreamland, remind them of home, etc.  We do have a rule that the blankie does not leave the house, unless we are staying the night/napping somewhere else, but other than that blankie is the one object that is never used for discipline and that I will go to the ends of the earth to provide.  I’ve also been known to “plant” a specific blankie in the hopes that it becomes The One.  Itworked for Emma and Faith (cute embroidered silky one made by my friend, Tiffany) but not so much with Gabe and Jane.

Emma’s:

 

(Made by a Young Woman I was working with when I had her.  It was made of thin material and didn’t last long.  We called it Ratty Tatty by the end.)

 

Gabe’s:

(That’s him under the blankie.  Poor second child, it was one of Emma’s girly blankets.  It was white, and very hard to distinguish from hotel sheets and we panicked when we returned from a trip with Ryan’s sister and couldn’t find it.  After a couple rough sleep times, Betsy called to say she had it and I drove 45 minutes to pick it up from her, so we didn’t have to have another night without it.)

Jane’s:

(I remember, distinctly, the naptime where she decided on “The” blankie.  She was 9 months old and I knew she kind of preferred it, but I tried to hand her another of the same material.  She grabbed it, turned it around, saw a different design and threw it out of the crib.  I quickly searched the house for the Real Blankie. 

It’s still around, it all it stringy glory.  She still really likes to have it at bedtime and I don’t care.  I love that she is still “little” enough to need a blankie.)

Seth never had one! He doesn’t even have a comfort object at all.  Maybe with that sunny, happy-go-lucky personality, he never has a need?  Maybe he’s just slept in a siblings bed 90% of his life and that was enough.

Faith’s:

 

(She calls it “Besh-oh” which means Special. She started showing favoritism towards it at about 1 year and so the kids would say to her “You want your Special Blankie?”  and the name quickly got shortened to Besh-oh.   I love love love hearing her walk around the house “Besh-oh, eh are you??”  She is attached, but can sleep without it.  I only worry about the fact that the blankie and the thumb go hand in hand…and we can’t have her sucking her thumb when she’s 7.  How will I separate the two?)

FYI:  take pictures, purposely, of the blankie while they are around.  I have spent a loooong time this morning searching for pictures that had the blankies in them and wished I’d had a really good shot…like the one I just took of Faith. 

So that’s the end of the story of Romney Comfort Objects.  They are kind of a big deal, you know, while your kids are little and I wanted to make sure I had a record.  Hope the Blankies didn’t put you to sleep, like they do my kids…