Tales From My House: Monkey Monk, Yellow, and Chickie

All 3 children with their special items.

Like most children, each of our kids has a comfort item. Anna has Yellow blankie, Jack has Monkey Monk (stuffed animal), and Kara has Chickie and Stripe (blankets). Monkey Monk was created at Build-a-Bear by Jack on his first birthday. Jack will choose Monkey Monk as his companion for out-of-town trips and often sleeps with him, but he does not rely on him for comfort. If we were to forget to bring Monkey Monk on vacation, Jack would not lose any sleep over it.

Next on the attachment scale is Anna. She sleeps with Yellow every night. However, Yellow typically stays in her bed during the day. Occasionally, she will grab him if she is watching a movie or wants him to accompany her on a local car ride. If we went on vacation without Yellow, I think Anna would be upset, but would be able to sleep without much trouble. Yellow was her nap blanket when she was in daycare and has been her blanket/comfort item of choice since she was around 2.

Finally, there's Kara. Kara relies heavily on Chickie and Stripe. Now that she has reached the ripe old age of 4.5, she has gotten slightly less needy. She used to need a blanket to hold if she was in time-out or in the car. She wouldn't even let me wash them--I would have to sneak them away to put them in the washing machine. Although she frequently still brings one in the car, she no longer cries if she forgets. There have even been nights where she has almost gone to sleep without realizing her precious blankies were downstairs. They are also somewhat interchangeable. At the moment she prefers Chickie to Stripe, but she will take either in a pinch. After we sold our house in Mechanicsville, Chickie accidentally got packed. When the movers came, I took everything we wanted to bring to Florida and put it in a special pile that the movers knew not to pack. However, Kara had taken Chickie out, walked around with him, and apparently left him somewhere. Fortunately, we still had Stripe. After a brief period of panic, she asked if we could all refer to Stripe as "Chickie," which we did. Stripe, now known as Chickie, was fully accepted and her constant companion while we were between houses. When we arrived at our new house, two months later, and unpacked the real Chickie, Stripe was again relegated to back-up status.

Chickie and Stripe were baby gifts for Jack and Anna. I can't remember exactly when they became Kara's companions. I believe that she started carrying them around as soon as she could walk. They are now in pretty rough shape, especially Chickie, which has holes that I can't figure out how to patch or sew. We have let her pick out replacements, but we can't find the exact blankets and although she is always happy to let us buy her a new one, none have served as adequate replacements. There have been numerous nights where Thomas and I have spent many minutes searching for Chickie or Stripe at bedtime. Once, Chickie somehow found his way into an old backpack, which got placed in our basement closet. We went weeks without him and when we did finally come across him, it was a very happy day in the Wilson house. Thankfully, we have never lost both Chickie and Stripe at the same time.

Although she is attached and relies on the blankets, especially at night, we have never let any of the kids bring their items out of the house or car, unless we are going somewhere overnight. On rare occasion, we have made an exception. For example, we were looking at a house and Kara insisted on bringing Chickie in. Of course, she then left it there and we had to call the Realtor and arrange to get back into the house which, fortunately, was empty.

As mentioned, the kids are growing more independent by the day. I imagine it won't be long before they all easily forgo their comfort items. I wanted to make sure I captured these moments of innocence before they became a thing of the past. With Jack and Anna starting Kindergarten and Kara beginning Pre-K this week, I am feeling nostalgic. I love the age they are now and while I know that each stage brings its own benefits (and challenges), it is hard to leave this sweet, sweet stage behind. I love that Kara loves Chickie. I will probably miss seeing her with her blankie far more than she ever will.