Mommy HullabalooTM
by Julie Watson Smith
Behold the power of the white blanket
“Transitional objects are integral to your child’s development,” said my daughter’s pediatrician. No doubt that statement is true, as our house is filled with several of their latest attachments: blankets, dolls, stuffed animals, trains, and so many more.
This is even more evident when I’m awakened at 1 a.m. by a weary-eyed child who has lost the coveted blankie or doll.
“Mommy, please find White Blankie." (The pleas of a desperate three-year-old child always overcome the exhaustion of a thirty-something-year-old mom.)
I search the infamous Bermuda Triangle of cracks and crevices between the wall and mattress. I crawl on the floor running my hands across the carpet, where I happen across ten Matchbox cars lying in wait for someone to step on. I move to the hallway where I suddenly realize that this search would be much easier if I were wearing my glasses. Great. Now I have to find my glasses and a rogue blanket. While scavenging for my glasses, I nudge my husband, “Honey, do you know where White Blankie is?"
"Ummm, mhphdf, I, mphhp, don't, YAAAWNN, know," he grunts as he falls back into deep sleep. Not much help there.
I continue my search through the rubble of toys, and I wonder three things: 1. Am I nuts? 2. Will I ever get back to sleep? and 3. When do we outgrow the need for security objects?
According to my spouse, number 1 is a given – I seem to get nuttier every year. And, given the amount of adrenaline my midnight treasure hunt provided me, it’s doubtful that I'll even fall asleep when the sun peeks over the horizon. That leaves number 3. At what age does the need for comfort and reassurance from transitional objects subside? 5-years-old? Twelve? Twenty-five? What about me? Now in my mid-thirties, did I still have something that was the equivalent of my children’s security blanket?
The answer was yes. I did and still do.
My security blanket is, well, a blanket. Over thirty years ago, I vividly remember my mom purchasing me a purple, polyester, clearance-special blanket at K-Mart. My blanket rapidly became my prized possession. It warded off closet monsters in my youth and sheltered me during emotional rains in my teens. It has enveloped me and my children during lengthy chats over why fish couldn’t live in the ground, served as a table for family-room picnics, and warmed us during cold, winter nights. With its frayed edges and growing holes, it looks like a ragged piece of cloth. But to me, my blanket holds my memories through images of love, need and, ultimately, security – a need very few of us ever outgrow.
So, knowing the power of white – and purple - blankie, I will continue my midnight searches for dolls and blankets and whatever else my children deem worthy, because I know that wound deep in the fabric, these objects hold more than just fleeting moments of comfort. They hold precious memories and glimpses of a world filled with love, faith, and security.
Julie Watson Smith, mom of three and founder of
Mommy Hullabaloo. More than just a parenting column, it is a national
company inspiring moms to get organized and energized while learning,
living, and loving the chaos of mommyhood! Julie is also the author of
Mommyhood Diaries: Living the Chaos One Day at a Time (Wyatt McKenzie
Publishing, 2005) and the upcoming Mommy Hullabaloo’s Guidebook to
Learning, Living and Loving the Chaos of Mommyhood (TBD). Visit Julie at www.mommyhullabaloo.com.
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