Bedtime at the Box

Ours is a family of lovie... lovers. Or wubbies. Or... whatever you want to call them. All of us (including Jeremy, but I won’t call him out) require specific accessories in order to sleep peacefully in our little box of a house.

Ashton has 3:



Puppy, Mario, and Dinosaur (He’s not exactly creative in the name department).

Chloe, God love her, can’t sleep unless her bed is stacked with stuffies. She always requires no less than:



1 Care Bear
1 baby doll (height, color, fabric may vary)
1 Hello Kitty
1 “Gidget” (a pug- my mom’s pug’s name)
Pillow Pet and Froggy
Penguicki, her TY Beanie Baby penguin. I made the mistake the other day of telling her he had an actual name, as listed on the tag. Now she’s torn between calling him by his given name, Snowbank, or by his much more charming, creative name that she gave him herself.

Atleigh is a little different. She’s a lovie snob. She only wants her blankie, which she’s had since the day she came home from the hospital, at least 1 paci (preferably 3), and Baby.




Baby is the purple one. Other Baby is the Christmas. They’re borderline interchangeable, but if she had to choose, it would be Baby, as you can see by Baby’s love-stained visage. She likes Baby’s powder scented face, and falls asleep rubbing her eye with Baby’s cheek (I think she started this before we realized she needed glasses. I assume the coolness soothed her eye.) She will not allow any other toy in her bed. She doesn’t want books. All she needs is Baby, blankie, and paci.

As for me, I’ve only had two serious lovies. My first, Freckles, a Pound Puppy that I got when I was four, has definitely seen better days.




All of his fur has been rubbed off, to the point where you can see his cotton batting innards. All the fluff that used to hold his neck up has migrated down into his fat little body, so he flops in half when you pick him up.

My second, who is currently called Puppy, but has been known by whatever name strikes my fancy (Carl, Howard, Andy, Alfonso), was given to me by Jeremy our first Christmas together, to replace (REPLACE!) Freckles.




Jeremy told me that when we got married, he was not going to have Freckles in bed with him. He says Freckles is cancerous! Psh. Anyway, that was 8 years ago now, and while Freckles has been retired to a safe spot in the closet- NOT because I think he’s cancerous, but because I fear for him in his old age. I don’t think poor Freckles could withstand my kids- I still take him out once in a while for a secret cuddle. Puppy hasn’t replaced Freckles, but he’s earned his own spot in my heart. He’s big enough that he props my arm up when I sleep, and squishy enough that I can use him as a neck pillow when I’m reading, and he has the distinct advantage of being a milestone present.

My other cuddler (also a gift from Jeremy) is Paisley.




She doesn’t stay still, and when her cuddling evolves into nose biting, I have to relegate her to the foot of the bed. But she makes up for her non-inanimate status with purry head-butts and sandpapery kisses. And she only likes me. That’s obviously endearing.

What do you need to help you get to sleep? I hope I’m not the only adult in the world who still sleeps with a stuffed animal. I didn’t take that into account when I posted this...