Our Own Linus

When I was growing up I had "my little pillow." It originally belonged to my brother Justin, but I soon inherited it and never let go. That thing went with me everywhere. You'd see me with my pillow, walking around, with my thumb in my mouth. My mom and grandma made various attempts through the years to wean me off of my little pillow onto a new one. It never worked. It never had the right touch or right feel. Nothing could replace my my little pillow. I'll be the first to admit that I hung on to that pillow until just over a year ago. Yes, I was married and all, but I took my little pillow to bed every night. Thankfully, in talking with others I have found that this isn't all that odd. The little pillow is hardly in existence. It's basically in shreads. After many washings, it's become thin, thorn, and lost stuffing. I knew that one day it'd have to be retired if I wanted to be able to keep it at all. I started to place it farther and farther away each night. First the bedside table, then the dresser, then to my closet. I successfully made the transition. David, being the wonderful husband he is, thought he should try to replace the hole I had. He bought me this super soft, fluffy blanket. I believe it's chenille. It was cool to the touch and I'd wrap my head in it each night. It didn't take long, about a year, to lose it's super softness, and then we purchased another one. It's not that I'm ashamed, but once again, I knew this wasn't something I could not continue for the rest of my life. It wasn't long after that I started to wean myself off of the blanket. I can now say that I'm little pillow and blanket free.


The point to this post is that I'm not the only one in our household with a "cuddles." The first day we had Viking home we gave him a bright blue towel for warmth and comfort. We called it his blankie. It didn't take long for him to attach to the bright blue blankie. He'd play with it, chew on it, and cuddle up with it. After 2 years it was in shreads and we knew it was time to replace it. I searched high and low for a new blankie that matched the color. Once I found it I bought 2 (one for back up). We introduced the new blankie but he didn't want anything to do with it. He wanted his old blankie. After weeks of attempts he finally let go of the old one and embraced the new one. I was able to salvage a small piece of the originally blankie and have it stowed away. As he has grown older he still plays with the blankie but thankfully his chewing has lessened. Although it's rough, we are still on the second blankie.


As everyone knows, and some may disagree with, we treat our animals closely to how you'd treat an actual child. We are the first to recognize that they are not the same as humans, however receive great joy having them as part of our family. With that being said, I never dreamed Viking could get this attached to something like a towel, like I did with my little pillow. He's absolutely hilarious with it. If I take it to wash it, he mopes until I bring it back to him all clean and warm. As stated previously, it's darn near impossible to change it out. He wants nothing to do with it. And every night, he let's you know when it's time for bed. He finds his blankie, grabs it in his mouth, takes it to wherever he wants to relax, and falls asleep with his blankie. When it's time to go to bed, I tell everyone, "Time for night night..." Everyone falls in and heads upstairs. You'll see Viking hop up, grab his blankie in his mouth, and head to the stairs. He continues holding the towel in his mouth, drags it up the stairs, and jumps up in bed with it. And even after a long day I can't help but smile every time this happens. I'm sure we'd survive without having all these furry kids running around, but I think things would be a bit dull. They keep us rolling....