via Daily Prompt: Blanket

When my first grandchild was a toddler, I visited he and his family.  I hadn’t seen them in a few months.  He had really grown and was finally walking.   I noticed he didn’t go anywhere without carrying a blue shiny satin baby blanket.  I asked his mom what the deal was.  She explained that it was his snuggy.  She went on to explain that it was his security blanket but he called it a snuggy.

When my daughter saw how much having the blue snuggy worked to soothe my grandson, she immediately went to the store and purchased another one just like it for a back up.

Along comes my second grandson.  He latched onto a blue bunny for his snuggy.    Again my daughter purchased another bunny just like it for a back up.  Two years later my third grandchild arrived.  A girl.  Now, my daughter had her hands full with the two boys and the first thing she did, was picked out a blanket to give the baby so she could also have a snuggy.

When my granddaughter was a toddler, I again was visiting.  My daughter, granddaughter, and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things.  We no sooner arrived when my granddaughter became inconsolable.  You guessed it, mom had forgotten her snuggy.  So, in the store we go and this sweet, beautiful little girl is screaming at the top of her lungs she wants her nug.  As we pass a very kind looking older gentleman he says, “Lady I don’t know what a nug is, but please just give it to her.”  My daughter and I just looked at each other and began to chuckle.

I said to my daughter, “Follow me.”  I led them into the baby department and began the search for a blanket that was close to the one she had at home.  Finally she settled on one and I opened the package and gave it to my granddaughter.  She immediately went quiet and we were able to complete our shopping.  As we passed that same kind looking gentleman on the way out of the store he smiled at us and winked saying, “Ahh you gave her the nug.”  If he could have only seen the trial and error of selecting the blanket in the baby department.

All of this reminded me of my youngest daughter.  When she was about three, she had to have eye surgery.  A dear priest friend of ours came to see her when she got home from the hospital and gave her a little pink hippo.  She loved it.  At the time there was a kids show on TV called the New Zoo Review.  Maybe you have seen it.  Anyway, the hippo on the show was named Henrietta Hippo.  My daughter called her hippo Henri the Etta. Now talk about security blankets.  She began sleeping with Henri the Etta every night and played with it every day.  It became Samantha’s security blanket.  She took it with her where ever she went, even sleep overs when she was older in high school.  My daughter attended college six hundred miles away from home and she continued to sleep with Henri the Etta.

Finally on one visit to her apartment when she was a senior in college, I noticed Henri the Etta was missing.  I asked her about it.  She told me that she still had her, but decided it was time to put her away.  Then she opened the top drawer of her chest in her bedroom and there Henri the Etta was lying in wait to be needed again.

Security blankets come in many shapes and sizes.  They can be a soft and cuddly blanket, a favorite stuffed toy, or be a special object that just sits on your night stand when you go to sleep or need some comfort.  They are called security blankets because they cover you with comfort and reassure you that all will be OK.