“Most kids have a special stuffed animal, ratty blanket or
dog-eared book they take to sleep with them – and a lot of kids, lacking
this talisman, go berserk and scream themselves to sleep. Bill Bob had
no one special talisman: Bill Bob had dreefees. None of us ever quite
figured out the etymology of that word, but when I asked him years later
Bill Bob thought it might be an amalgamation of ‘dream’ and ‘feed’ –
food for dreams you might say.”
David James Duncan
When Sadie was little we tried to get her to take to a particular lovey--it was a mild mannered teddy bear named Murray. But Murray never stuck.
For a long time, Sadie didn't have bedtime lovey at all, but around 19 or 20 months she began to bring "self-proclaimed loveys" to bed with her to snuggle with. First it was a bunny I made, then, a wooden sea otter my brother Gabe carved--which was cute, until you woke up with it wedged under your back. For a while it was a favorite ABC book, or another toy from the rotation of stuffed animals. This summer, the list of things that need to go to bed with Sadie has grown a bit, and become more random.
For example--sometimes we need "ALL Sadie's friends" which consists of Tiger, two stuffed Dogs, Joey doll, Elmo, Owl, Baby Blue (a rubber whale that goes over the spout of the bathtub so kids don't bonk their heads) and a Curious George book.
Last night, there was just Tiger, a harmonica, two kitchen spoons, and a rat-tail comb (I had to take the last three things out after she fell asleep for safety sake)
I was feeling a little disconcerted by this rotation of oddities in the bed, and then I remembered the little brother from David James Duncan's The River Why and his dreefees, and I realized, that is exactly what Sadie has.
Like many things about getting to know the small humans you are raising, Sadie's selection of dreefees is a source of amusement, wonder and curiosity to Loren and I...and even though lately we have been moving her into her own bed after she falls asleep, sometimes we still find strange things in the bed come morning.
At least we know how they got there now.
this describes our house to a T. his "wubbies" as we call them are super soft pillowcases and normally he needs about 4. plus all his "little friends". but no lovey early on in life!
ReplyDeleteMy mom gave 10 month old Jeff a Moomin - stuffed thing from Finland - to sooth him into taking a nap. We found it in the yard later after he tossed it out the window. No loveys, blankies, toys, friends EVER came to his bed by his will or ours. He loved to be read stories before bed and he used to stack the pile of books hoping for an extension of bed time.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how kids are all so different in that regard. I guess you saved some money not having to invest in all the stuffed animal fads though. Honestly, the stuffed toys in bed kind of skeeve me out a little, especially with a two-year-old who drags them everywhere. I feel like no matter how many surreptitious trips through the washing machine they take, they will never be clean! I guess spoons are a good alternative;)
DeleteThat's awesome. Pillowcases. Sadie hasn't discovered those yet, but I can see the charm:)
ReplyDelete