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Sunday, November 09, 2008  

Lovey Boy

Are kids supposed to be this fickle?

I'm not asking because M. Edium has lost interest in us, or any of his relatives or friends. I'm only wondering, because one always hears stories about kids who have had a certain toy from which they were inseparable throughout their childhood. From the Velveteen Rabbit to Hobbes the tiger, it seems like the most usual thing in the world. They're commonly called loveys, and the child is all but bereft without it.

Not that M. Edium doesn't do that. He does. But he's a serial lovey-er. Here are a few of the items he's been passionately yet briefly attached to over just the past few months:

"Turtle," a stuffed turtle that he spotted at the mall, kind of away from all the other toys. M. Edium felt bad for it, and decided that it needed a family and we would be it. Very poignant, especially for a little boy who might have been just beginning to understand the meaning of adoption.

"Linny," a stuffed guinea pig from Wonder Pets. This resulted in Turtle being demoted to being just a fellow Wonder Pet, Tuck the turtle. Very poignant, for different reasons.

"Fuzzy Shuttle," a stuffed space shuttle that he got at Kennedy Space Center, which he carried around Walt Disney World.

"Cubing WALL-E," A stuffed WALL-E toy that he got at Walt Disney World, which he carried around Kennedy Space Center.

"Fuzzy Ghost," A ghost Beanie Baby. This is the first lovey that he borrowed from someone else, namely one of his grandmothers. There was a time when we never would have done this, but we have since realized that given his proclivities, we might as well check them out of the library.

A stuffed bumblebee. My sister, DeBitch the Elder, got it with a flower delivery a while ago and gave it to him. Lately it has leapt to the forefront of his attentions, to the point where we got halfway home without it last night and had to turn around. Fortunately we weren't traveling by air. Oh, and if you think we don't call it "Busy Bee," you are out of your mind.

And then there are the things that aren't stuffed:

A little plastic pumpkin on a stick, that goes "waka waka waka" when you shake it. I got it for him at the Halloween store because it was the cheapest thing there. You know how upset a kid gets when a lovey goes missing, and nobody gets any peace? That would have been worth it this time.

A plastic coin from Kennedy Space Center, which he lost twice before we got home. It was much less interesting to him during the intervals when he knew where it was.

But maybe there is hope. Along with Busy Bee, his current lovey is a multicolored caterpillar that was literally one of the first things he ever owned. He had a few separate phases with it as a baby, but now it is back with a vengeance. Its name?

"Lovey."

posted by M. Giant 6:43 PM 5 comments

5 Comments:

Bean is six and she still does the same thing. Recently, a baby favorite of a stuffed duck head attached to a little blanky (named Duck Duck Goose) has reemerged as a fave. But, generally, she rotates through a variety of animals and changes up every month or so. The good thing is that if you forget one animal, you can easily substitute another. The bad part is that if she decides a particular one should be in favor and you can't find it, you're out of luck.

By Blogger Liz, at November 9, 2008 at 7:48 PM  

I thought I was so smart when I bought a second "puppa", an ikea dog, for just-in-case, except now it's all about this music-box in a cow that when it plays, the cow's head slowly rotates. Not only is this cow NOT WASHABLE I don't know where it came from and I don't have a backup cow.

By Blogger Shirky, at November 9, 2008 at 8:08 PM  

My niece has five, count'em, FIVE fluffy pink bunnies. Her overindulgent parents are terrified that they will find themselves without a bunny and she'll panic. At first I thought it was cute, and now it just annoys the snot out of me.

By Blogger Christine, at November 9, 2008 at 8:40 PM  

I love that my oldest child (now age 10) has the lovey that I had when I was a child. It's a stuffed tiger (appropriately named Tigey) that looks, well, about how you would think a 37 year old stuffed animal would look.

Tigey is no longer able to get washed, due to his fragile condition, so I try not to let my mind wander in the direction of germs, bacteria, and wee little bugs and just let my heart fill to bursting with Velveteen Rabbit-esque feelings about toys that are Real.

I've read your blog off and on for a couple of years now - you never fail to amuse. Thanks!

By Anonymous Anonymous, at November 10, 2008 at 6:54 AM  

M. Giant, I think we all love things serially and intensely. I don't know if people ever get over this style of attachment. The flexible and fleeting nature of it *is* disturbing, indeed.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at November 12, 2008 at 10:33 AM  

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