pink puppy

i am sure most kids have one of these. not a pink puppy, but some beloved object they cannot do without. they cannot be soothed without. they cannot go to sleep without. they cannot be without.

when my daughter was born and still in the hospital, her aunt rachel gave her a pink puppy. we have always just called it "pink puppy". even as my daughter has gotten older, she's always wanted to call it "pink puppy". my daughter has always slept with it. when she's upset, she want to hold it. when she was a baby, she would suck on the tail. as she got older, it became the nose. now it's just the feel of the funky, rough, floppy, flat puppy that soothes her.

when my daughter was about 1 1/2 years old, i realized what this pink puppy had become. it was the thing we took everywhere with us. it was the thing we never forgot when we went to someone else's house. it was the thing that would get shipped in the mail as opposed to just "getting it next time we are there". it was the "well as long as we have "pink puppy" we can buy anything else we need!" thing. i purchased another puppy just like it when i realized pink puppy was "it". honestly, i slept on that pink puppy (to try to get it flat like the authentic pink puppy) but to no avail. it could never be a substitute!

my daughter still sleeps with it. we can get through a night without it. we can get through several nights without, but there's no joy greater for her when she finds the lost puppy at the bottom of her pajama drawer (what it was doing there i never know.)
my daughter likes to put the puppy at the top of her pillow so she can grab it in the middle of the night and "it's cool".

i read an article that was titled, "you love that stuffed animal more than they will". it was about how kids have that beloved thing and then they grow up. the beloved thing becomes a remembrance of when they were younger and all those wonderful times.

my daughter claims when she turns 6 years old she will put up pink puppy "just for decoration" in her room so she will be a "big girl". she had inquired about when her brother had put up his pajamas with the grippy feet. i told her when he was 4. she said, "well i think i'll put up pink puppy when i'm 6!" now that that birthday is fast approaching, i'm wondering if she will still do it. we'll see.

i wanted to take one post to dedicate to pink puppy and my daughter's love for her. i love my daughter immeasurably and long after she doesn't think about pink puppy, her mommy will have it and remember all these days.