Beedie

My oldest son G, now almost 6 (ah! S-i-x!) has been attached to a special blanket since he was about one year old.  "Beedie", as he lovingly named this blanket, was one that my dear friend Karen's mom Gail had given to me as a baby blanket.  My own mom had spent a great amount of time searching for the "perfect" blanket to give to her first grandbaby.  She found a soft, white blanket with fleece on one side and lined with silk on the other, and gave it to me in hopes that "this" would be the baby's "lovey".

I did try with with that white blanket.  I did.  I would put that in baby G's crib and wrap him in it...
but to no avail.  When G was about a year old, he somehow got a hold of the crocheted blanket made by Gail and that is what became his "Beedie". 

We turned the car around many times for Beedie.  That blanket did get left at a few places, and we had to grasp at a back-up once and found a smaller blanket that was also crocheted that I cleverly named "Baby Beedie".  Baby Beedie did the trick once or twice, especially when the real Beedie started smelling foul and I tried to sneak it into the wash.
When holding his Beedie, G would suck on his tongue, kind of like this:

 (Hospital stay when he was 16 mos old for Bronchialitis.  And yes, that is Beedie.)

Beedie had to be with G from the moment he was awake in the morning, til the moment he went to sleep at night.  Sometimes, when G would be busy and playing, I'd find myself smelling Beedie (is that weird?) because even though it sometimes smelled dirty like it needed a washing, it mostly smelled of my little boy.  It wasn't like he sucked on it or put his boogers on it or anything.  I just liked it's smell.  It calmed me.

Anyhow, about a month ago as I was cleaning garbage out of the back of the van, I noticed Beedie laying on the floor almost pushed under the seat.  I brought it out and I asked G, "How long has your Beedie been in the van?"  G just shrugged, "I don't know". 
"Well, didn't you miss him?  Don't you like sleeping with him anymore?"
I'm not sure I got an answer.

The other night, after tucking G into bed, I pulled his door closed behind me and as I turned to come up the stairs, there was Beedie, laying in a pile in the middle of the downstairs family room. 

Why hadn't G asked for it tonight?  Why hadn't he asked for his Beedie for a really long, long time?

I picked up Beedie, and I smelled it.  I tried not to be sad. 

I opened G's door and his head immediately shot up, as he wasn't expecting me back in so soon.

"What?"  he asked. 

"Here", I said, and I tossed Beedie at him.

I saw him smile and pull his Beedie up to his face.

Good Times & Deep Thoughts

I didn't mean for more than a month to pass by between posts.  Every day something wacky goes on around here, however I just don't get to posting it.  I can't tell you how many times I've fallen asleep before 9 pm while laying on the couch with the ipad on my lap in the past couple of weeks.  Training for a marathon is pooping me out. 

Forget the fact that I have wild children who are up for nearly 11 hours of my day...

I really don't have anything funny to post, although I do feel like I'm laughing my ass off (or crying) at my kids nearly every minute of every day.  This weekend proved the normal Easter sugar-candy high; while trying to get the boys dressed after bath, Landon disappeared and he was evidently climbing on the cupboard and digging into his Easter basket.  He ran out to the living room buck naked and chomping on a chocolate bunny.

While at church today, the Pastor was saying the final blessing and when she ended with "Amen", Bronson yelled as loudly as he could without officially screaming, "All Done!" which caused a little chuckle from the entire congregation.  (Sheepish Grin; it was kinda cute).

On a more heavy note, I have been regularly following 3 Caring Bridge websites from people in my area, in which two are of young boys ages 11 and 12 both battling for their lives while fighting complications from leukemia and it's treatments.  The third is of a man who was badly injured in a motorcycle accident that took the life of his wife; they have 2 young boys at home.  Reading these daily updates has caused me to grip so hard on my reality of having my whole family intact and currently healthy.  I try so hard to remember how things can change in the blink of an eye and try to keep everything into perspective. 

Yes, my days can get long....and I can find myself cleaning up the same mess and the same greasy fingerprints over and over again each day.  I may find myself repeating the same life lessons, saying "No, no" and "What do you say?" (meaning Thank You and Please) over and over.  But do you know how very lucky I am?  I have the best opportunity.  I'm raising little humans.  I'm teaching them more than how to use the potty, and their manners, and how to clean up after themselves.  I have the opportunity to teach them to love Jesus, and be good people. 

This is a wonderful thing, and I am grateful for every day.