I have been wanting to do this post for a long time. When Jack was born a few of my Mom's talented friends made blanket and burp cloth sets for us. This particular blanket is the one we chose to wrap him in to bring him home from the hospital. It was a nice, big, cotton, two-layered blanket, crocheted all along the edges. As time passed, Jack decided it was his favorite. He was a thumb-sucker early on and the very sight of this blanket seemed to send him into a thumb-sucking frenzy (it still does.) Before he could speak very well he named it, "Mink." He has never been away from this blanket for even one night. Over time he has completely unraveled the crocheted edge off of the blanket. Not one string of it remains. At one point he also tore it open, like a sleeping bag. I sewed it closed a couple of times at least, but he kept tearing it open. Then he would tear long strips from the sides and leave them dangling off of the blanket, looping the strips around his head and arms. I had to cut those off when he wasn't paying attention so that he wouldn't strangle himself in his sleep. Recently he has begun to tear at the fabric edge itself, pulling the individual threads out of the blanket (sucking his thumb all the while.) He takes these threads and rolls them into balls and leaves them in little piles all around the house like rabbit turds. I call them his "mink droppings." Often I find them in my hair or in my food. The thing is quite disgusting, but I think, if I'm honest, I am just as attached to it as he is. You may wonder why I have just spent so much time on such mundane details about a blanket. I have come to understand recently that life is all about the little, seemingly mundane minutes and moments of life. The mink reminds me of so many things that I never want to forget and that I'm afraid I might. That beautiful day we brought him home, my first perfect baby. I remember how his shiny blond hair looked in the sunlight that day. It reminds me of holding him and rocking him when he was sick or hurt or just content. How many times have I tucked it around him in the car or in his bed? It is the thing that ties baby Jack to growing up Jack. If I can't preserve the mink, I at least want to remember it's history in my life and Jack's.
4 comments:
Wonderful post. It made me think about Jackson's "buddy", a little boy doll that had a ton of hair. He pulled and twisted all of the hair out and I had to sew on more "hair". The new hair looked more like a hair net. So buddy turned into a Mexican gangster. I will have to show him to you someday. He hasn't slept with buddy for years, but he pulls/twists the fur off of his Webkinz. It is his way of comforting himself.
My sister had a blanket just like that! She took it everywhere! Jack is getting so big! It scares me with how fast they grow up!
Amber still sleeps with her blankie at 14. . . It too has undergone many sneaky surgeries to maintain its existence. Great post. Yes, you will forget unless you write it down. Todd and I spent the better part of last week rummaging through journals. I'm glad I wrote what I did, but there is a lot that I left out. The daily kind of things that end up meaning so much. . . You are a good mommy, Julie Child.
Posts like this will make your children treasure this blog forever. You are such a talented writer Julie!
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