Then I got a teddy bear whom I called Snowy Bear and carried everywhere with me. He had a silky ribbon around his neck that I would wind through my fingers while I sucked the fingers on the other hand. People would always be tying his ribbon in a bow, which made me mad.
When he lost a ribbon, my mom and I had to look carefully for a replacement that was silky on both sides. When I had to go to school without him, at first I carried his ribbon in my pocket for secret courage.
At school, I sleep with a ratty speech bubble pillow. [nerd pillows here]
And at home, I have Nyago, my sleeping-faced Sanrio cat from middle school.
I just don't sleep as well without something for my arms to hold. If I don't have a stuffed animal, I'll hug the edge of the comforter. Otherwise I toss and turn and my arms feel too long and empty.
What about you? What was your lovie when you were little? Do you still have a cuddle-thing?
When I crawl into bed and find I'm missing The Boy's embrace, I pull out my Bubbles stuffed doll. I like that my cuddle-thing is a strong female character who could kick your arse if provoked. Her big stuffed head is very huggable :)
ReplyDeleteI like your BRB pillow!
--xo.
When I was little I'd get nightmares when I slept with stuffed animals in my arms.
ReplyDeleteSo I gave it up.
R. - Aw yeah, good feminist, you! Hee. I never watched that show...I should sample it sometime this summer.
ReplyDeleteQ - Strange! Very strange!
I always go to bed thinking of something deep and complicated-- in the morning, I'm silly and distorted. I like to hug the pillows, though.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like stuffed animals they freaked me out. actually I didn't like to nap, my childhood friend and I would get in trouble during nap time, kindergarten, because we would snicker and laugh about things.
ReplyDeleteI liked finding frogs when I was a kid, lizards if I was lucky...
My grandma and grandpa got a pink elephant that plays music the day before I was born,which I named Ellie when I was like five because it needed a name. Now it's pretty much grey and her head doesn't turn quite as smoothly as it used to but I still love her. When I was four I found some black dog at Ross and bought it because I fell in love, and after I took a pair of scissors to the big tacky plaid bow in his throat, I named him Patty for no apparent reason. And my best friend got me a white cat that I named after my grandma after she died. I still sleep with them every night, especially when I'm having a bad day, because I agree- I need something to hold on to at night. It's so comforting <3
ReplyDeletememories, memories...
ReplyDeleteI had stuffies, too. A clown named Ethel for one... beat that. A clown!
But for some reason, I half expected a line under the baby photo, LAST SURVIVING PHOTO OF PINK PIG
:)
Julia - Oh, deep bedtime thoughts give me insomnia. Not you, I hope?
ReplyDeletepinkapplecore - *I* love naptime. hurhurhur.
geekspawn - You know, I think I saw Ellie. What was your grandma's name? And yes, it's funny, but it can be comforting.
Noel - I can't decide whether Ehtel is the last name a clown would have, or the best one. I should ask my mum if she knows where THE LAST ONE is. (It was delightful hunting those two out.)
Holly-- I'm a chronic insomniac myself,and have been since the third grade, but sometimes it helps. :)
ReplyDeleteI need to be holding something to sleep too! When I was little, I had a stuffed doll named Dolly, and then I got a bear covered in hearts named Valentine, which had pretty much fallen apart by the time I was six, so I didn't sleep with it anymore, but by that time I'd gotten a rabbit named Bunny. I currently sleep with Bunny, a bigger rabbit named Sweetie, and a dolphin named Flipper. I sometimes feel bad because Flipper often ends up falling to the floor during the night, but he's assured me that he loves me anyway. :)
ReplyDeleteI still have tons of stuffed animals--more than twenty! A couple of them are foundlings and when I was little I had a career of charming people into giving me stuffed animals. The one I've had the longest is a bear named Honey that I apparently stole from my brother when I was about three, and didn't actually ask for until I was seven. The one that's the oldest is a little parrot which was my uncle's when he was young. I named the parrot Turquoise Tropical Waters (ha!) and he doesn't have eyes anymore but I still love him. I also have an inch-and-a-half bear named Theophilus; he's the smallest.
ReplyDeleteholly- yep, you did. :) And well, her name was Elizabeth, but everyone including her daughter called her Sweetie 'cause she totally was.
ReplyDeleteI would always hold this very fat snowman :D
ReplyDeleteJulia - Mm. I'm sorry to hear that. If nothing else, it is a very literary ailment.
ReplyDeletespider - I used to feel SO bad when one fell on the floor, or when I had too many in bed so I couldn't cuddle them all, or when they had to go in boxes. I blame Toy Story.
Jenica - Hee! That parrot's name...funny girl.
geekspawn - Yes, I remember that now. :) Your mom's mom?
Milli - Sounds terribly cuddly. :)
Nope, my dad's mom's mom.
ReplyDeleteI didn't ever have one particular stuffed animal friend when I was little, but rather a veritable army of stuffed bunnies that I always got for my birthday, since it's right around Easter.
ReplyDeleteI still have my American Girl Doll, Heather, on display on my bookshelf. And sometimes if I'm having a bad day I'll pull out her "closet," choose a new outfit, and then hold her for awhile until I feel better. She's a very good listener.
geekspawn - Gotcha.
ReplyDeleteDebbie - Re: Heather...I LIKE YOU.
I had (still have) a stuffed dog called Tobiah. He's a golden retriever and when I was really small my dad had a golden named Tobiah, so I must have name it after him, although I don't actually remember that dog. (You might have seen Tobiah- he came to Wheaton with me.) When I was first learning to walk my parents lived in a house without heat, so they heated the downstairs with a kerosene heater in the winter, and I dragged Tobiah's ear across the top of the heater once so it's all prickly where the fur burned.
ReplyDeleteI don't keep him in bed with me anymore, but I do tend to wrap my arms around myself when I sleep, and I have to have some kind of blanket, even if it's only a sheet, or I can't sleep at all.
Every time it rains - Yes I remember him well, Anna! And your self-hugging...it's really cute. Ditto on needing something on top of me to sleep.
ReplyDeletemy mom made me a blanket before i was born. i'm holding onto right now hoping it'll help me fall asleep. i'm just not so sleepy tonight =/
ReplyDeleteHahaa! This is SO Holly Orr!
ReplyDeleteI have a stuffed raccoon named Raccoony. What a creative name, huh.
girl from the moon - blah. I hope you did get some quality sleep in.
ReplyDeleteaipingplum - Meh well, my pig was called Piggy. High fives.
I've had a stuffed lamb I've slept with since I was 8! and I agree about my arms needing something to hold; although sometimes the edge of my pillow or the comforter are enough. otherwise, Lambie joins me. (brilliant creative name, I know.)
ReplyDeleteErin - it kind of really gets me how we all had those names for them.
ReplyDeleteI had a stuffed dog that was almost the size of me. Her name and personality was changed every year or so to match my own growing up changes. I finally grew out of her when I was eleven, I think. Now I'm a lonely sleeper, but that's okay.
ReplyDeleteAnd I forgot to say, you're adorable in all the photos.
ReplyDeleteSummermoon - My here little sister did that too; changing her favorite stuffed animal's name every time *she* got a new favorite name.
ReplyDeleteGreat minds think alike. We were just genius kids is all.
ReplyDelete