"I will be faithful -"
This is birdman's line. He absolutely rejects the idea of snuggling anything other than his one and only! In fact, he is so cautious about undesirable familiarity with a textile he hasn't approved that he forbids anyone holding him from interacting with any other blanket.
Now - lest you think this is some cheap attachment - I need to tell you that his blanket can fix anything. And it does fix anything. Hurt feelings, sleepiness, inadequate toy sharing, hunger, physical injury, general crankiness, undesirable food served for dinner, separation anxiety, etc. In his view I am sure it could cure cancer as well as world hunger.
This is problematic. Not the variety of ailments it can treat, but the risk. The way the world works we will either lose his blanket (inadvertently) or it will wear out completely. We already cringe each time we think of the grieving process he will go through when one of those things occurs. It will either involve a month of sleep deprivation, a lot of screaming, or both.
In order to mitigate this risk we have worked to help him see that other blankets are OK and can be snuggled. He is wise to our intent and has come to view all other blankets as evil. For example, a beautiful and soft new blanket was sent to him and we laid it across his bed like a sheet. That evening when he was laid in bed it took him only a few seconds to realize that his parents had laid a foul and poisonous trap for him. With a primal scream he immediately set to pulling it off and casting it aside so he could sleep without touching it. Or seeing it.
A sweet aunt observed his attachment to his main squeeze when we visited at Christmastime and offered a piece of flannel matching the pattern on his blanket. below is Pooka's thank you note...
Dear SuperAwesomeUltraAunt [Sweet],
It's gonna work! It's gonna work! It's gonna work! It's gonna work! It's gonna work! It's gonna work! It's gonna work! It's gonna work! It's gonna work! It's gonna work! It's gonna work! It's gonna work! It's gonna work! It's gonna work!
The fabric arrived recently, and after a few trips through the laundry room system (to soften the flannel to an acceptable snuggle-ability), I can gleefully report that [Birdman] has not rejected the fabric outright! He comes over and pokes at the animals, requesting their names and sounds. He walks over it. And over it again. He will not let himself be wrapped in it yet, nor even be seated upon it, but he stands long moments and looks at it from just-out-of-danger distance.
Considering that any other fabric gets as much suspicion as white powdery envelopes sent to the Department of Homeland Security, I can see that it's gonna work! It's gonna work! It's gonna work! It's gonna work! It's gonna work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So today is the day! The sewing project will commence! Then after a few blatant advertising episodes (I'll give the mini-blankets to his siblings and have them cuddle them, cooing appreciatively) I will sew them to corners of His Main Squeeze and see what happens.
THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!!!!!!!!!!
Suspicious:
"Help! She Made Me Touch It!":
Trial Pass (Note the presence of comfort food):
Passes the toes test:
posted by Harvey at 3:19 PM
2 Comments:
So, how goes it? Has it worked yet or still getting there?
He is still getting there... today for the first time he snuggled one of the new blankets and sucked his thumb. A few minutes later he'd regained his sense of self enough to realize it was the wrong blanket and reject it - but this is a sign that he's coming around!
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