Monday, October 23, 2006

The Nudder Blankee

When my youngest son Ryan was born, our neighbor (not from the redneck-magnet rental but the house on the other side of us) gave us two blankets that she'd made as a baby gift. They were almost identical except slightly different in color. As Ryan got older he developed a preference for one of them over the other. When he started talking he started calling it his "nudder blankee" because when we would cover him with the one he didn't like he would say that he wanted the nudder (other) one. He became so attached to that one that the other one was never wanted. One night when he was sleeping, in his pitch-black room, I covered him with the one that he didn't like. Even though it was impossible to tell the difference in the dark, he woke up and came running out into the hallway and said "This is not my nudder blankee!".

My wife had a pile of clothes and things in the dining room to take to the Goodwill the other day, and with it being cold in the house I grabbed a blanket off the top of the pile to cover up with. When Ryan, now eleven, came in the room he said "Hey that's my nudder blankee!". It was indeed, and had been scheduled for dispersal to some needy person until Ryan found that out and rescued it by saying that we couldn't give his nudder blankee away. So, after being buried in a stack of baby things for a few years it has returned and is being used by him even at this moment. The simple comforts of life.

2 Comments:

Blogger Cheri said...

Ahh, the nudder blankee. I too grew up in a simliar situation with a yellow one and a green one. My mother's two favorite colors. I took a liking to the green one and ripped the silky off of it when I was four at my cousins house. I still have it. In fact, it's in my bed at this very moment, waiting for me to cuddle back up with it. Childish, if you prefer, but it's comforting, a reminder of innocence. It also soaks up tears in breakups, wraps my head on cold nights, and works as a finger toy for sleepless nights after painful surgeries (like tonight). He'll give it up for a while again then probably give it life, until he wants a girlfriend. =D


Your kids sound great. Sorry about the mirror on your car- in my neighborhood some little devilish hoodlums enjoy doing very very similar things but dont' stop when it comes to throwing things like slurpees into my car or paintballing up and down the block.

12:54 AM  
Blogger Sheryl said...

I meant to comment on this before, but I forgot. I love this story! I never had a blankee, but I did have a wind-up Snoopy that played Brahms Lullaby. I loved that thing unitl all the fur was rubbed off, then I loved it some more. It got lost when I moved down here, unfortunately.

2:04 PM  

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