It all started with a simple piece of care bears fleece. I bought a yard of the material to make my daughters a fringed fleece blanket. The fringe around the edges all knotted up to look pretty. When I lay the blanket in the floor for my son to lay on as a baby I never imagined he would grow so attached to it. From about 6 months old he would lay and play on the care bears blanket. Then when he learned to walk at a year old he started to drag it around and loved to twirl and suck on the fringe. My husband and I thought that it was cute. My daughters had never formed such attachements to items before. So this was our first comfort item experience. Just after his 2nd birthday he had to be hospitalized for pneumonia. The blanket made the trip to the hospital with us. After that we knew that he was truly attached to the blanket. He wanted to take it everywhere. At night the only cover he would let be in the bed with him was his blanket. That is the way life has been for the last 2 years. Where he is the blanket can't be far. He can play all day long without having it. But when he is ready for a rest or wants to sit and watch tv the blanket has to be there. Now that he is 4 I started thinking that it was time for him to start weening away from his blanket. It seemed like that was a necessary step in getting him ready to go to school. We stayed with family in Mississippi for a week. As we were leaving I told him that if he wanted to take the blanket with him that he would have to pack it himself. He told me to get it for him and said that I would not pack it and it was up to him. He said that he just didn't want to take the blanket. When we arrived in Mississippi that evening he asked where his blanket was. I explained what had happened before we left and that was that. He only asked about it one other time during the week we were there. The first night we were home he didn't say a word. It wasn't until the next day that he started asking about his blanket. I told him where it was and he immediately went and grabbed it. However, now I notice that each day since he is needing it less and less. What I thought needed to happen is happening on its own. So why does it not feel right? He is my only little boy and seeing him with his blanket reminds me that he is still my baby boy. Watching him grow away from it makes me think that one day I may be his blanket. That one day he is going to grow up and not need my comfort anymore. The thought makes me sad. So now I see it as each day that he holds on to his blanket is one more day mommy keeps her baby boy.

• Published in Home & Family
• 1 Comments
•