When Number 1 was a baby we got a ton of lovies as shower gifts. You know, those perfectly sized little blankets that moonlight as a stuffed animal. As, apparently they all do, she gravitated to one special elephant lovie. It was oh-so cute!! I loved that she grew fond of a favorite blanky. I had one growing up and I remember it as such a great source of protection and comfort. Her dear little plush friend is (yes, present tense) in her mouth anytime she needs comfort, or goes to sleep, or gets in trouble…....So, after a couple of years of oral punishment and being dragged around all over, I decided it was time to get a replacement so that we could go back and forth between them. HA!! Do they have that market figured out! They don’t make that particular lovie anymore, DISCONTINUED. As though that is necessary. Reminds me of the ridiculous “vault” that all the Disney movies end up in if you don’t hurry out immediately and buy yours! Anywho, I could acquire her lovie on ebay for the low low price of $60!!!!! Holy Moly. She could chew on it till it disintegrated for all I cared!! And she has done just that, almost.
She is now 6 and still MUST have it to sleep. My husband keeps telling her she has to give “Banky” (as IT is so lovingly referred to) up soon, to which she snarls her nose at him and looks to me for protection. I disagree, why take it away? It is not hurting her or me. Well, except that one time.
We lost it a couple of years ago. I allowed her to drag Banky e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e So naturally, it accompanied us to a wedding reception…at a farm…almost 2 hours away from home. There was dancing, eating, playing, and at the end of the night, time to exit. Where was “banky”????? This is where mommies do the most ridiculous things for their children. I had grown men, in ties and jackets, crawling around in the grass looking under their tables for it. IT!! Grandparents will, apparently, do even more ridiculous things for their grandbabies. My mom suggested that I ask the lead singer of the band to make an announcement to the entire reception of party-goers. WHAT? I WILL NOT. After what felt like hours of searching (really was probably about 20 minutes) we never found our friend. Number 1 had devastation on her face, but the friend we rode with had to get home to her children. We left. Without IT. But before I left, I went to the beautiful bride and said….NOT, “what a lovely party, you are gorgeous and we had such an amazing time.” Nope. I said, “When you guys are cleaning up, would you PLEASE make sure EVERYONE helping and all the workers know that we are desperate to find this missing blanky?? It is a big deal! PLEASE???” She graciously said she would and gave Number 1 a huge hug and promised to do all she could.
On the 2 hour ride home, I was consumed with a terrible sense of the drama filled night to come. It was not hard to sense, as it was already playing out. It was late, she was exhausted, and there was NO Banky to stuff into her mouth so that she could blissfully drift off to sleep! How was I to explain to this baby that things like this happen….AND we still must sleep, and go on about our day. I could already feel the loss that Number 1 was about to be introduced to.
Not sure where IT was found, not sure who found IT, but IT was found. I got the call the next day from the bride that all was well {heavy sigh of relief and a bit of a jig was inserted here}, but she was not heading back to town for several days“ {Another, more upsetting, sigh. And a fast frown appeared here} SEVERAL DAYS?!?!?!??? Clearly said bride had NO idea how pressing in nature her delivery job was. If she had, she would have high-tailed it back to town immediately. Dropping all post-wedding-party-plans! But, Truthful Mommy said, {through gut wrenching stomach pains from the thought of having to tell Number 1 that IT was found, but would not be home today, or tomorrow, or maybe even the next day} “ok, super. So glad you found it. Thank you. Oh and by the way, the party was awesome and we had a great time. You were beautiful.” It was unbearable. Number 1 could not get to sleep. Which meant Truthful Mommy and Daddy could not get to sleep. Occasionally she would fall asleep; when she woke up looking for it, IT was not there!! BAAAAAA WHAAAAAA All night for almost a week. We took her shopping to let her pick out a replacement. NOT. My mom found her another one that was also a pink elephant. NOT. I can’t even remember all the stories we told her to try to make it better. Nothing worked.
Banky was eventually returned by the bride, who, to this day Number 1 considers a HERO. But that week before she made it back to us safe and sound felt as though we had lost a real part of our family. Even the husband was pitiful. It was truly dreadful.
In hindsight, TOTALLY should have made the band make an announcement!!!
(Tune in to the next post for Blanky Returns, Part 2. We did not learn our lesson)
Our "Banky's" are in the form of a "Lambie" and a "Doggie," and if/when either of those get displaced, we're in full-blown panic mode around here. I called the company that makes (our also discontinued) "Doggie" a year ago and had them ship us a back-up, but once it got here she would have nothing to do with the impostor. Lovies are irreplaceable.
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