Linus and his blanket

I'm not sure why it's necessary but almost every child I know tends to need a sort of security blanket. I had a 'smelly' pillow. Some of my friends still have their 'smelly' pillows, encased in new cases, disguising the somewhat flat, 20 or 30 over year old pillow. Some travel with it, some cannot get to sleep with it. It's the first drug that we were introduced to and some of us haven't managed to kick the habit.

The twins don't have 'smelly' pillows but their opiates come in the form of little toys that they need to have with them when they go to bed or when they need to be comforted. Jordan needs her "Ellie". She nuzzles the trunk and plays with its ears as she falls off to sleep. She also needs her "Paci" (Pacifier) which I'm desperately trying to wean her off but no one else cooperates, primarily because it is the easy solution. To wind her down before naps, to shut her up and stop her from talking, to calm her down when she has nightmares, all we need to do is stuff the silicon teat into her mouth and she will busily work away at it and goes into a silicon induced stupor. Even Packrat is wont to leave it in 'plugged' in at nights because it ensures she stays asleep and affords us time to have dinner and some television. I don't mind Ellie, but Paci needs to go at some point. Hopefully soon.

Evan doesn't have "Paci" but has his thumb and "Duck Duck". A yellow towel with a duck head. The Pavlov reaction with him is give him "Duck Duck" and immediately, his thumb goes into his mouth and his eyes adopt a semi-glazed doped out look. The years of sucking his thumb has caused him to develop a corn on his thumb knuckle. When he gets scolded, when he is angry or has been upset by his sister, when he falls and hurts himself, he seeks out "Duck Duck" and his thumb for comfort. I am less concerned about him sucking his thumb because once he's asleep, the thumb falls out and stays out.

Both of them are so dependent on their security blankets that woe has been anyone who forgets to pack them in when we are out. Woe has been to themselves when they have accidentally thrown up on it and the aforementioned "opiate" ends up in the wash. We have tried to prevent such woe by having many a stand-by. For Jordan, she has two bears that work as standbys for "Ellie". Nothing for "Paci". We just have a couple of those in case she drops one or one needs to be thrown out as it had to be when she, sitting on the potty, opens her mouth to exclaim at the size of her poop and subsequently it drops and sits prettily atop her little brown mountain of poop.



















As for Muffin, he is too young to need a security blanket. His security blanket is currently my boob. We have introduced him to a nice satin-y dog blanket with ears that rattle. He has shown some interest in it when we strip his mittens but the 'first time's free' situation hasn't seemed to have worked with his as well as it has with his older siblings.



















Incidentally, the photograph of Jordan shows her in some ridiculous outfit my mother thought was hilarious for CNY. It's an apron dress and bloomers made of material that is the total opposite of Dri-Fit. It doesn't breathe and leaves her sweaty. But there's no evidence of her being sweaty because the sweat isn't allowed to permeate the material. So she looks pretty in it, but is sweating most unglamourously underneath. And like any other girl concerned about outward appearances, she suffers quietly and doesn't complain about any discomfort. By the time she's 21, she'll be ready to take on the murderous 6 inch Jimmy Choo stilletos that I once tried on and immediately tossed aside because they were impossible to stand, much less walk in and it made me feel like my ankles, knees and hips were ready to snap inward!

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