Lovey Withdrawl

Lovey Withdrawl: noun. The series of emotions and actions a child goes through when their favorite comfort item is lost or taken away.

I was reading Jessica's blog, and she was talking about her son losing his blue pacifier, "Blue Guy." It reminds me of the other night at my house...

When I was a small child, maybe four, my grandparents gave me faux rag dog (faux because it was commercially produced and not really made of rags, but meant to look that way). It's called a "Floppalot," and has a red body, with ears and legs made of different patterned cloth, with yellow yarn tail and hair. I loved that thing. It always went with me on trips. But at one point we moved, and I did not see it again until my midteens, when I happened to find it in a box in the attic. I've kept decent track of it since.

A few months ago, I decided to give my prized dog to Monkey Son #2. I figured the bright red color would appeal to him. He ended up loving it and would hold the tail while he sucked his thumb. But then Husband and I noticed that the tail was getting dingy, and Monkey Son #2 would sometimes bite the body. My poor dog would not survive. We thought to go to the store to get him a different lovey, and selected a girraffe.

That night, Husband put Monkey Son #2 in his bed. He could have sworn he heard him say, "Dog?" Monkey Son #2 pushed away the girraffe and cried and cried. I picked him up and carried him around, and everywhere we went, he looked down at the floor, frantically searching. About 45 minutes later, we couldn't take it any more. It was just too sad. We gave back the dog, the crying stopped, and he went to sleep a while later.

At least it's loved.