Friday, February 10, 2012

Creature Comforts


"Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always."
 - Hippocrates

This is Bear.

Beloved "Bear"

Yup. That's his full name.

He is small, smells like sour milk and cost $3.99 when I bought him at IKEA for my newborn nephew Rowan almost 5 years ago.

My nephew Rowan...who looks a lot like Drew.
They must be related.


Apparently little Rowan had so many furry, little friends that Bear never got the love from him that he deserved. Being the generous and caring people that they are, Rowan's parents - my brother Paul and sister-in-law Vicky felt it appropriate to give Bear a new home and possibly a new friend who would show his some lovin'.

So Bear returned to our house when our baby Drew was born.

To say that Bear found love in our home is the understatement of the century.

Bear found a most loyal and affectionate companion in Drew.

Drew snuggling with his new friend.

This post was actually inspired by a friend of mine who posted a status update on Facebook. She was perplexed that she could not locate one of her children's stuffed friend "Rabbity". And then others commented - including me - about their kids' "creature comforts" and how losing them is always like a nightmare.

Another book I need!

All of my boys had their "creature comforts". In fact, at ages ten and eight, my older boys still do (but don't tell them I told you that!)

Julian has "Doggie". Yes, a slightly more creative name than "Bear". He was given to him when he was born by close friends of my parents and he is blue and soft and has been re-stuffed by my mother-in-law a few times. While Julian no longer clings to him for dear life, Doggie still makes his home in the nooks and crannies of Julian's bed.

"Doggie"


Noah has "Ellie". Yes, you guessed it. Ellie is an elephant. She has the most creative name of them all, although still rather plain.

This is a reasonable facsimile of "Ellie"

Ellie was sent to Noah as part of a lovely, giant gift basket that my employer at the time sent to him upon his arrival. (They also sent Julian and my husband a Toronto Maple Leaf themed basket and me a wonderful basket filled with soaps and bath stuff from a high-end shop. Shout out to CMA for that!!!)

Shout out!!!!

Now I know this is going off on a tangent here but I know you are used to that so here we go.

You see, my last employer did not even bother to send me a greeting card. Nothing when I broke my feet during my pregnancy and had to go on sick leave and stay in bed for weeks on end. Nothing when Drew was born and spent 10 days in the NICU. (I won't name you former employer, but you know who you are and no shout out for you!)

OK...now that I have that off my chest, I shall digress.

I'm glad you approve Borat. That is comforting.

So Bear saved the day.

And when Bear gets lost, we go a little mental trying to find him.

Details on whether the Fabler bear worked as a stand-by for the Blund bear to follow.
I know...the suspense is killing you, right? Sorry to make you uncomfortable.
Read on...

Of course, I have been to IKEA on numerous occasions trying to find "back-up Bears". To my chagrin, IKEA dropped the ball on their "Swedish for common sense" tag line and stopped selling these little guys.

Now, $1 breakfasts? THAT is common sense!

Come on IKEA! I am a VIP client! Where are the Bears???

Thanks for your trouble IKEA, but I don't need a bear chair.

Now, in IKEA's defence, they do carry similar little bears...and my mother-in-law picked one up - bless her heart. But alas, Drew took one look at him and threw him aside. He was a bear...but he was not Bear.

Nope. Didn't work.

Some believe that allowing your child to develop a strong bond with a particular stuffed toy or a blanket or what-have-you is not a good thing. And to them I say, "whatever". I grew up with my own security friends - "baby doll", "Mary doll" (who I accidentally dropped into the Lion's Den at the zoo and then proceeded to watch her get mauled), "Chickadee" and my "blankie".

Ahhhhh Linus and his blankie.

My brothers also had theirs. Paul had a blankie up to the point that it slowly became and tiny little, ratty square of fabric. Matt had "Doggie". Not the same "Doggie" as Julian to be clear. His was brown and white and I don't think he ever got re-stuffed as I recall him being very floppy from all the love and snuggles.

My point is, we all need comfort in this world.

This would work for me just fine please and thank you!

Life can be a scary thing full of new and unexpected experiences - especially for young children - and having something other than Mommy or Daddy to reach out to to provide companionship and a sense of security is very normal and is not only helpful to them - but to said Mommy and Daddy who can not snuggle with their children 24/7.

A Mommy and Daddy blankie. Good call!

As adults, we have to learn not to rely too heavily on these "security blankets" - because it either looks a tad immature (if it is a furry stuffed toy), or it has morphed into something less innocent like a constant parade of food, cigarettes, booze, drugs and...well...you get my point. Adult security sometimes becomes unhealthy in the form of addictions.

Yeah...not a very manly look dude.

Mmmmm...fettucine alfredo.

Some find comfort in the bottle.


But if we bring our children up to find their main source of comfort in the security of our loving arms, with the balance of teaching them that they can go out into the scary world and we will always be there for them, then having "creature comforts" is just fine.

Drew finding comfort in the many kisses he gets from Mama.

And on that note, if you happen to have any of those IKEA bears as pictured above lying around, Please let me know. I am willing to pay a premium for a back-up.

Not for this bear...but the point has been made.

Having another one would give me a sense of comfort and security.

Smiles,

Lora

2 comments:

  1. Warm & Witty. Like you and your beautiful family.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Do you know that Kelly's "Bear-Bear" is one that you gave to me for my birthday one year, long before she was even a twinkle in my eye? Pretty special if you ask me.... Sarah

    ReplyDelete