first, there was Bunny
When Gwen was a few days old, our downstairs neighbor knocked on our door to congratulate use and meet her, and to give her a terry cloth bunny. We hadn't, at that point, had any stuffed toys of any ilk, and I decided that this was going to be the one that would be Gwen's lovie.
And as she grew, Bunny did indeed become her favorite, to the point that we realized we should've bought a backup, because one day Bunny would wear out. But when I went back to the store where our neighbor had gotten him, they no longer had these bunnies, but only similar ones. I bought one, but these other bunnies weren't as nice; they weren't terry cloth, their ears weren't as floppy, their heads were more lump, and there was a knot in one of the corners.
Also, the new bunny was grey, so now we had Grey Bunny and White Bunny. Grey Bunny was played with, and occasionally slept with, but definitely not the favorite that White Bunny was. White Bunny became more and more loved and eventually Joel looked around on the internet, and found a place where he could order a replacement, that we could have on hand. We held on to the spare for a year or more, until this weekend we looked at White Bunny and found that a hole has worn through in his face and soon the stuffing will start coming out. Joel suggested to me on the side that maybe it was time to get the new bunny out when we got home from our trip, and I turned and told Gwen about having a spare, a bunny that would look like White Bunny used to look like, and be stronger and more durable. She seemed quite excited, and before bed we got out the spare, still in its vacuum sealed packaged, and she pulled him out and watched him magically fluff up. We (in the colloquial parlance) blew her mind: "I have TWO White Bunnies. How can I have TWO White Bunnies?" More precisely, we now have Old White Bunny (or sometimes just Old Bunny) and New White Bunny, along with Grey Bunny.
After she was in bed, Joel told me that this wasn't the way he'd been planning to tell her we had the spare. He was going to make a big deal about putting White Bunny into the washing machine, and then pull the new one out of the washer and give it to her, all washed and clean and renewed.
And I explained to him just how terrifying that could be to a small child (and why I'd never intended to make the swap in an underhanded fashion, because I've heard stories from friends of their parents trying to swap out favorite toys/blankets/etc. with disastrous results) -- just think of it, if the washing machine can change Bunny THAT MUCH? What else could it do? How much more could he change? What might happen to him in the future? I suggested that maybe some day when I'm old and dirty and worn out, Gwen could take me to the hospital, and make a big fuss over how I was going to be made better, I would be new and clean and strong and fresh, and that she'd leave me there and come back out with a new and improved younger model, which she'd then INSIST was in fact mommy, no really, I took mommy in and brought mommy back out, why don't you believe me that this is mommy?
And suddenly he realized just how creepy that was, and was happy to let Gwen have both Old White Bunny and New White Bunny. I'm going to let her sleep with Old White Bunny for awhile longer, but insist that he stay in bed and not be played with, and I think what we'll do is get a fancy box, and in that box put Blankie (my childhood afghan, which has been in rather desperate need of a wash for about 6 years but I haven't been able to bring myself to do it because I am terrified it will disintegrate and I won't get anything back) and Old White Bunny, and then they can be safe and secure and never ever thrown away.
And as she grew, Bunny did indeed become her favorite, to the point that we realized we should've bought a backup, because one day Bunny would wear out. But when I went back to the store where our neighbor had gotten him, they no longer had these bunnies, but only similar ones. I bought one, but these other bunnies weren't as nice; they weren't terry cloth, their ears weren't as floppy, their heads were more lump, and there was a knot in one of the corners.
Also, the new bunny was grey, so now we had Grey Bunny and White Bunny. Grey Bunny was played with, and occasionally slept with, but definitely not the favorite that White Bunny was. White Bunny became more and more loved and eventually Joel looked around on the internet, and found a place where he could order a replacement, that we could have on hand. We held on to the spare for a year or more, until this weekend we looked at White Bunny and found that a hole has worn through in his face and soon the stuffing will start coming out. Joel suggested to me on the side that maybe it was time to get the new bunny out when we got home from our trip, and I turned and told Gwen about having a spare, a bunny that would look like White Bunny used to look like, and be stronger and more durable. She seemed quite excited, and before bed we got out the spare, still in its vacuum sealed packaged, and she pulled him out and watched him magically fluff up. We (in the colloquial parlance) blew her mind: "I have TWO White Bunnies. How can I have TWO White Bunnies?" More precisely, we now have Old White Bunny (or sometimes just Old Bunny) and New White Bunny, along with Grey Bunny.
After she was in bed, Joel told me that this wasn't the way he'd been planning to tell her we had the spare. He was going to make a big deal about putting White Bunny into the washing machine, and then pull the new one out of the washer and give it to her, all washed and clean and renewed.
And I explained to him just how terrifying that could be to a small child (and why I'd never intended to make the swap in an underhanded fashion, because I've heard stories from friends of their parents trying to swap out favorite toys/blankets/etc. with disastrous results) -- just think of it, if the washing machine can change Bunny THAT MUCH? What else could it do? How much more could he change? What might happen to him in the future? I suggested that maybe some day when I'm old and dirty and worn out, Gwen could take me to the hospital, and make a big fuss over how I was going to be made better, I would be new and clean and strong and fresh, and that she'd leave me there and come back out with a new and improved younger model, which she'd then INSIST was in fact mommy, no really, I took mommy in and brought mommy back out, why don't you believe me that this is mommy?
And suddenly he realized just how creepy that was, and was happy to let Gwen have both Old White Bunny and New White Bunny. I'm going to let her sleep with Old White Bunny for awhile longer, but insist that he stay in bed and not be played with, and I think what we'll do is get a fancy box, and in that box put Blankie (my childhood afghan, which has been in rather desperate need of a wash for about 6 years but I haven't been able to bring myself to do it because I am terrified it will disintegrate and I won't get anything back) and Old White Bunny, and then they can be safe and secure and never ever thrown away.