Day: November 4, 2006

Gleek has blankies. She has had blankies ever since she was 9 months old and began carrying around the pink thermal receiving blanket that we recieved as a gift. Being foresighted and intelligent, I bought several more of exactly the same type. That way we had 4 blankies and I could wash some while she carried others. Then I noticed that she was carrying her blankie around by the satin tag. That one spot on the blankie was getting dirty and I could tell it would wear out fast. So I cut off the tag and sewed four pink satin ribbons on to the corners of each of her blankies. Then she had lots of ribbons to rub against her face while she snuggled. All was well. The blankets were dragged, spilled upon, vomited upon, left outside, and generally mistreated for years. When Gleek was almost 3 I noticed that all of the blankies were showing signs of serious wear. Gleek was still extremely dependent upon them. So I bought 3 new pink thermal blankies and sewed new ribbons onto the corners. Gleek happily adopted these new blankets and cheerfully let me get rid of the battered ones.

That was two years ago. The “new” blankies have been dragged, spilled upon, vomited upon, bled upon, left outside, used as capes, used as bags, and generally mistreated. They are faded and fraying. Gleek still sleeps with them every night. She is smart enough now to know that there are three and if at all possible will carry around all three of them simultaneously. This means I can’t always have one clean, but it triples the likely hood of being able to find one at bedtime. Gleek has grown up some too. We no longer take blankies to church, friends’ houses, or school. She accepts that they are only for at home. I see no reason to deprive her of this small scrap of security before she is ready to abandon them herself. Especially since I regularly see how the possession of a blankie allows her to gain possession of herself and her feelings.

For years I’ve had a secret. See when I bought those three new blankets? I actually bought four blankets. The fourth one sat in the top of the closet for “just in case.” I’m not sure what the case was that I was waiting for. I think originally I was concerned about reducing the number of blankies from four to three. After that, I forgot it was there. Periodically I’d clean out that closet and find it. Every time I’d stare at it, consider getting rid of it, decide not to decide, and put it back.

Yesterday all four kids had a romping game of hide and seek all over the house. They had a blast. I was busy and not paying much attention until Gleek came down to me wide-eyed. She was holding a plastic package. She knew exactly what it was. It was a brand new vibrant pink version of the faded and worn blankies she carries around every day. She stared at me with wide, hopeful eyes. I opened the package and gave it to her to keep. Today she came down with stomach flu and one of the kind TLC things I did for her was to sew ribbons on the four corners of her new blankie. It looks so strange and bright bundled up in her arms with the worn out ones. It may be a tactical error. Now one of her blankies is obviously different than the others. I may have an upset Gleek demanding that I search the house for the NEW one. But She was so soft and sick today and she loves it so much. I’ll have to try to remember that if we ever come to a frantic search.

Howard came home from D&D day because he has the same stomach bug that Gleek has. And the relatives who were going to stay the night with us have opted to stay elsewhere, much to the disappointment of all my kids and all their kids.

My good day kind of fizzled into a blah day.

I had a plan for today. I was going to escape my house and my kids to go and be part of D&D day at Dragon’s Keep. I didn’t know if I was going to get to play, but I knew I’d get to hang out with gaming geeks including Howard. I was looking forward to it. I went to bed early last night so that I could breakfast the kids and make them get all their work done before I had to leave. The plan was working well. I was full of energy this morning. The kids were working. I was dancing around the kitchen and wiping counters. Every minute made the house cleaner. I was giving Kiki info so that she and her friend could babysit effectively while I was gone. I’d sent Gleek up to make her bed. I gradually became aware that rather than making her bed, she’d been lying still in it for about 45 minutes. Gleek lying still = sick. I was in denial and went along with the morning as planned. Then she threw up. I can’t leave a vomiting child to go play games. So my plans for today have been rearranged.

The good news is that all the other kids have each had a turn with this stomach bug, so this should be the last round for me. The other good news is that this time the child had only a few bites of pancake rather than a stomach full of Halloween candy. Kiki, kind soul that she is, still wants me to go. She wants me to be able to have fun. I think she also feels that being babysitter to an ill child would be an adventure of sorts. Unfortunately Dragon’s Keep is a full 20-30 minutes from my house. That means I’m not nearby in a crisis. I can’t go that far. However I will probably allow Kiki to have a babysitting adventure for a short time while I run a couple of errands.

I still intend to have a good day. I’m just not entirely sure what I’ll do to make it good. Having the house clean helps. Maybe I’ll haul out The Queen’s Necklace or Star Munchkin and make some of the kids play with me. We’ll see.