Does your child have a “lovey”? A security blanket…or doll or bunny or dog? Both of mine do. For my older daughter, Piper, that lovey is named Judy. And we pretty much consider her part of the family now.
We received the little doll as a gift from my mother-in-law before Piper was born. It was simple & classic and for over a year it sat on a shelf with other cute stuffed animals in my baby girl’s room. Then, sometime after Piper turned a year old, she began to form an attachment to this little stuffed doll. At some point she was given the name Judy (after the little girl in Pat the Bunny, another of Piper’s favorite things) and the two of them have been fast friends ever since.
We are actually on our third incarnation of Judy. The first one was sadly lost after a day of errand running and the second is tucked away in a memory box. The third is currently tucked under Piper’s arms as she drifts off to sleep. Over the past 4 years, Judy has been with us to many places. She has joined us on trips to Colorado, Florida, Alabama, and even the Dominican Republic (twice). She’s comforted Piper during doctor’s visits and she came to the hospital when our 2nd daughter was born. She was Piper’s first ever show-and-tell item at preschool and she has an apple on the family tree Piper created in that same class. And the one and only time Piper did not make it all night at a relative’s house it was because Judy was inadvertently left in the backseat of our car.
Over a year ago, we were doing our nightly routine of reading a Bible story and praying. Spencer asked Piper if there was anyone she wanted to pray for and, after going through the normal list of friends & relatives, she said, “And Judy!”
My husband looked thoughtful and then responded, “Well, Piper, we don’t really pray for dolls, but we can thank God for things like Judy and our toys and our house.” To which Piper replied, “But Dad, she’s not a doll- she’s a Judy!” There you have it.
To close I’d like to share with you a link to Project Judy. While her dad was in Haiti, Piper wanted a way to help the kids she saw who were suffering. So, together we came up with this little project- one girl’s attempt to share love & hope with kids in another land through the gift of a simple doll. But, of course, she isn’t just a doll…she’s a Judy.
Does your little one have a dear friend like Judy?
*This post is a part of the Mom’s 30-Minute Blog Challenge at Steady Mom.
Yes-all my kiddos are attched to their blankets-even my oldest at 8 YO!
What a sweetie to want to help out in Haiti!
cute! my 3 all love their blankets… my oldest (a girl) is currently pretty attached to a chocolate-scented bear known as “the chocolate pudding bear.” I can’t say I blame her, chocolate being involved and all.
& what a great help for the hurting children in Haiti. they need something to hug. my heart aches for them. i’ll be checking into your project.
My son has his guy-guys. At around 4 months old he started sucking two fingers on his left hand, but only when he had a tag (which he started calling “guys” when he began to talk) to rub in his right hand. And not just any tag, but a silky, satiny tag that he can rub smoothly. The tags in Old Navy clothes are perfect. No embroidery, nothing to catch on as he rubs it back and forth. He’ll be 5 years old this summer and for now he only gets his guys during afternoon rest time and at night. His favorites have long since lost their tags (guy-guy, which was a blue baby blanket, and hat-guy, a plaid summer hat), so now we’re using too-small Old Navy swim suits. We had to cut all the good guys out of his underwear last year to help keep his hands out of the back of his pants!
Oh, goodness! Yes, my girl has a friend she calls GreenBear. To this day we are not sure when he came into her life but he has been part of so many of her adventures. If you have a moment I wrote about him a few months back: http://6riddles.wordpress.com/2009/11/08/greenbear/
On another note:
And I am going to come back to your info on the Haiti project. Thanks for the links.
Only two of my kids ever attached to anything… and number one grew out of it real quick… But we live with a two year old that has had a frog since birth and she lost it last week the same time as her two year molars erupted… It was a very sad time for all of us!!! Needless to say she found it and life became manageable for us again!!!