When AJ was little he had a giraffe that went everywhere with him. This giraffe lasted until he was about 18 months old and was soon replaced by Little Bear. Little Bear didn’t last as a favorite for nearly as long as his giraffe (which we still have), I believe it was only a few months that he liked little bear. He got a Panda that went everywhere. If he couldn’t find it, he would replace it with something else. In this I know I am lucky. Then he got an elephant, a black dog and a moose. These he rotated as to what went with us to places. He slept with them all. Soon he added a giant Christmas bear to his bed and a Roly Poly Ollie, Pikachu, and Stitch. They were joined over the years with miscellaneous dogs. All lived on his bed. At some point he got a 26. For anyone unfamiliar with this particular animal, it’s a baby stegosaurus from Dinotopia.
Enter the pillows. I know your thinking there is no room on this child’s bed for anything more. But there is, or was. Remember it was a loft bed with sides. Had his pillow and he used his giant bear as a pillow. AJ started stealing the pillows from the couch too. He liked to sleep with soft things. For some reason his favorite shirt was a turtle neck. Actually, it still is. I think it’s because they are soft to the touch. He wore this shirt until it was way to small. So my mom covered one of his couch pillows with the shirt. He didn’t want to get rid of it, but I didn’t want him to wear it anymore. This pillow is untouchable. No one is allowed to touch it. It is his and his alone.
After getting the mattress into his room I discovered a few things about my son. One is that he needs to vacuum around his bed badly. The other is that he sleeps with his black dog, elephant, 26, and sock monkey. I suppose my son hasn’t grown as much as I thought. At heart he is still my little boy who likes soft things. His pillow is still front and center, it needs a washing badly. but it’s there with the Pikachu blanket I made him a few years ago. His father found the pillow and made the supposition that we should get rid of the pillow. That is not a fight I want to have with AJ. He can have his pillow, he just needs to let us wash it.
Adeventures in Parenting 