A Security Blanket
and Our Red Heads

I know.....You see this photo and might be wondering: WHAT IS THAT?!

"Mouse" was such a big part of our red head household, I just felt I must have a page about him and those like him.......WHO??

OTHER NAMES FOR A "SECURITY BLANKET"--- Wubby, blankie, banky, kittie, wink, cuddles, baby, lambie, bunny, mouse...
(you name it !!!)

*** DEFINITION ***

• A blanket, toy, or other item that a child carries around to reduce anxiety.
• A familiar object that provides comfort or security to the owner such as a blanket or toy in case of small children.
• An object giving a feeling of security that temporarily becomes a “mommy’s helper” or “her replacement”
• A transitional object or attachment toy that is a comforting to infants that sleep separated from the mother.

A SECURITY BLANKET HELPS YOUNGSTERS cope in new situations and deal with stress, helping them adjust: going to preschool or to grandma's, traveling, shopping, when sick or scared, or when sleeping....

Most parents are familiar with their child being emotionally attached to a soft security blanket or toy, often needing it to sleep at night or bring along during the day.

Estimates that probably at least 50% to 60% of kids have had some type of security item.

Apparently, some emergency vehicles and police cars now have small stuffed animals to give to children when a traumatic event or accident happens to help comfort them.

WHY is it so special?
I think in some way their ‘security object’ has some unique property, an essence, a special quality that other objects do not.
Perhaps that 'security blanket' represents a friend or substitute for the parent that is comforting and very real.

And special for PARENTS too: A mother wrote, "Another loose string, another zap to my heart. Colorful strands are all over our house these days. Instead of being annoyed about finding yet another thing on the floor though, I want to scoop these up and reattach them to their source (her daughter's Pooh blanket)....This piece of cloth has been everywhere: countless road trips, 2 ER visits, under cats, over dogs and every night, alongside her in bed, one small hand clutching that fringe. By the way, I know there are those that discourage the blanket idea, but if it comforts my kid while she's sick or makes her feel less scared of something, I'm glad she has it. Heck, sometimes I wish I had one....What causes that not-so-dull pain isn't the deterioration itself; it's what those pieces of string represent....Once this Blankie is tossed aside or completely unravels, that phase of our lives will be closed." (Amy Matthew, 'The Sunday Chieftain' newspaper, used by permission)

CLASSIC EXAMPLE FROM MY NEWSPAPER:

Linus van Pelt
This is a character from the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip (by Charles M. Schulz) who popularized having a ‘security blanket’ and almost always has his blue security blanket with him. He isn’t bothered when Snoopy or other characters tease him about it, try to steal it, or destroy it. He just ends up using it as a weapon!

Eventually, his security blanket was present less and less in the comic strip but obviously served it’s purpose for Linus!

I feel like "Mouse" was one of my kids....
(along with his friend seen here in the photo,
"Lana Lamb," a lamb puppet).

"Mouse" was my red-haired daughter’s favorite little friend -- originally a soft cuddly stuffed gray mouse given to her as a gift. He ended up going everywhere with her and the family.

Eventually, he needed several major sewing ‘surgeries’ to be restuffed and resewn. Later, the thinning fabric barely held him together and the gray fur was about gone, but our red head didn’t care. I had also sewn little outfits for him:
blue jeans and vest plus a Christmas shirt from fabric scraps.

We almost had a major emergency once when Mouse got left behind on a bench at a mall but luckily we went back and found him – disaster averted!

Mouse hung around with her even after she got married but unfortunately, somehow, got lost in a move to a new home....
Probably better that way but was still hard losing an old friend.....

My youngest red head had a very soft
"Pink Blanket" to comfort her. I think it was originally a baby blanket gift that also became an old friend. Again, it went everywhere with us.

Of course, her security blanket could only be washed when she was asleep. Eventually, it also was looking pretty sad and tattered and ended up being stored in a box somewhere....

She also had "Bunny," which was a bunny puppet whose ears almost got ripped off, the fur got matted and stained with nail polish and who-knows-what-else. Good thing it was washable too. We always laughed about "Bunny" because your hand had to go inside the puppet where the 'butt' is... Lot of jokes about that one! We loved puppets for our kids - 'Bunny' and 'Lana Lamb' talked alot! They both ended up in storage too....

Do you or your red heads have some cute, funny, or embarrassing stories and/or photos about a particular
'security blanket' object? Is there a battered toy or tattered blankie around?

I SUGGEST YOU TAKE A PHOTO! (and write the stories down) for posterity.
Then, IF you want to share the photo/story with us, let me know on my CONTACT ME page and I'll give details on sending the photo. Would love to post them!

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