Monday, January 5, 2009

A Piece of Childhood: The Blankey





This is my son’s blankey…..tested, tried and true. It is no longer a bright baby blue, but a tarnished and dusty brown-blue. It is no longer soft and cozy, but thinned and worn. It has been lost and found, dragged across gym floors, thrown up on, ripped, snagged, and yes, washed countless times. I remember when JJ was 6 months old sitting in his carseat. We were getting ready to leave and I held this blanket and swayed it up in the air to put it on him….for the first time I saw his legs kick in anticipation of the blanket coming, and when it did he grabbed it with his little fists and pulled it up to his chin…..'ahhhh, sweet relief' he seemed to say. At that point I knew this blanket would be something special to him. Where does this type of attachment come from I asked myself one day? Is it a phase? Is it learned and enabled? Does it stem from deep emotional reasons? Is it genetic….hmmmm….I think of Jake’s childhood blankey….sitting downstairs in our keepsake trunk….tattered, torn, yellowed, full of holes. Maybe. Or, possibly, just a little piece of childhood....a treasure, of which only one person knows the worth. Cheers, to all the blankeys of the world.

2 comments:

  1. Love this post!! Jerzey is VERY attached to her blankey or sometimes I call it her silky since the entire back is silk. She loves to suck on it, bury her head in it and rub the silk in between her fingers as she eats or falls asleep. It is such a security thing for her. Thank goodness I brought over two of them just in case we would lose one....can't imagine how difficult that would be!:)

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  2. Cameron has, probably in the past two months, become more attached to his blankey than EVER!! He says, "blankey, water, blankey, water" when he needs comfort! He wants his cup of water, blue blankey and a nice lap to sit on :)

    Great post!!! :)

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