My kids have all been blanky kids. None of them would ever take a pacifier, but they loved their blankets. They all have a favorite that they latched onto at a very early age. Vivi's blanket of choice happened to be one that Great Grandma Chapman had made for Trenton when he was born. Vivi had tons of cute, pink ones that her grandmas had made specially for her when she was a baby, but for some reason she liked the hand-me-down one the best. It was made out of flannel fabric, in a pastel blue with pastel yellow, green, and pink wavy stripes, and the back was a solid pastel blue. The edges had been crocheted in white, in a shell pattern. Trenton had chosen his favorite blanket early on, so this blanket was rarely used. It was pretty much brand new when Vivi latched onto it.
From the moment she could speak, the blanket was dubbed 'Bright Blanky'. Well, after many years of being dragged here and there, and being loved to death, it wasn't so bright anymore. About a year and a half ago, it started to lose it's crocheted edge too. Some time last year, I asked Vivi if she would like me to make her a new blanket in place of Bright Blanky. She said, "Sure mom! But can I still keep Bright Blanky?" So I said, "Never mind". I didn't need to be dragging two blankets around with us everywhere.
Slowly, but surely, Bright Blanky started falling apart. Trent's mom did a pretty good patch job on it once, but even still, it only lasted a few months.
(Bright Blanky in better looking days)
And that was when Vivi decided, all on her own, that Bright Blanky had seen it's day, and that it was time for a new one. So we went and did some fabric shopping. Together, we picked out some really cute fabrics. And they have been sitting in my sewing room for months. I had even started cutting the blocks out, but as I mentioned in an
earlier post, I had some issues with finishing a project once I had started it. This week's project was to finish the new blanket.
Just a few stories to give you an idea of the attachment that Viv has had to Bright Blanky:
This has been Vivi's first year of Preschool that she didn't take Bright Blanky to school in her book bag every day. I had told her at the beginning of the year, that since she was going to be going into Kindergarten soon, she had to start practicing by not taking her blanket to school. Oh the TORTURE! The first little bit was a struggle, but slowly, she just got used to it. And every now again we would have a major meltdown day, and there was no getting her to school without it. Not too often though, thank heavens. She had to take Bright Blanky with her almost every day the last two weeks though. I think subconsciously, she knew her time with Bright Blanky was coming to an end, and she wanted to make every last moment count. ;)
Every time Vivi was upset about something, whether she got hurt, or someone hurt her feelings, the first thing she would do was run and get Bright Blanky. If you tried to hug her, or comfort her before she had her blanket, forget it... She would push and squirm and cry harder until she could get to it, then she would come back for hugs and comfort afterward.
There were a few times that Bright Blanky had gotten left at one of the Grandma's, and when bedtime came around, where do you think either Trent or I were? In the car to go get Bright Blanky. (Thank heavens neither of our parents live very far away!)
Bright Blanky was always with Vivi, wherever she was. It has seen many shopping excursions, traveled to several different places, and was never very far from Vivi's grasp. She loved that thing to death, and as you can see by the picture, I really mean to death.
When I got thinking about what we were going to do to dispose of Bright Blanky, several ideas came to mind. I asked Vivi if we should put it in the fire pit and light it on fire. She asked me what it would look like after, and when I told her it wouldn't be anything but a pile of ashes, a look of horror came into her eyes, and she firmly shook her head and said, "NO!" Okay, so maybe not the best idea. Then she asked if we could bury it in a box. I asked her if we would just put the box in the trash after we put the blanket in it. Low and behold, she wanted to keep the box. "Ummmmmm... No. Not an option." I told her. Well, we left things unsaid for the time being, and last night Vivi told me, as she snuggled into her bed with her new blanket, "Mom, you can find Bright Blanky and throw it in the trash." I asked her if she would rather throw it away herself, and her reply was, "You can have dad help you find it and throw it in the trash." So we did. After she went to sleep, we went and got the blanket and threw it in the garbage. Funny, but after all the years of comfort and peace that blanket brought to Vivi, it seemed so unceremonious to just throw it in the garbage. But what else were we going to do with it? It was so threadbare, I couldn't even use it as a rag.
Bright Blanky, thank you for your many years of service. Thank you for all the times you helped to comfort our sweet Vivi when she was upset. You have dried many a tear. Thank you for your willingness to be drug everywhere, and for not complaining once about it. Thank you for suffering through the many spills, nights of illness, and just for always being there. I don't know what we would have done without you.
And now, we would like to welcome Pinky Winky (do you love the new blanket's name?) into the family. We hope that you will serve your purpose as well as Bright Blanky has.
