Security

Erin has always been a fairly confident child, and has never needed any type of security blanket or teddy bear for comfort. However, she has recently latched onto one specific doll, and this doll needs to travel everywhere (and I do mean everywhere) with her. Before this, I always thought that it was so cute to see kids with "security" items, since it always seemed to calm them, and just looked adorable.

Beth and Amy never had security items, although they did use pacifiers. So, this is my first experience with this clinging behavior. And I must admit, it's not nearly as cute as I had thought, since it requires my constant awareness of "baby's" location.

Baby has been inadvertently left outside on the swings more than once, resulting in a shrieking panic-attack from Erin in the middle of dinner. That, of course, is followed by Mommy running outside in the pitch dark to search for baby before hysteria hits.

Baby has been left in the shopping cart, at a friend's house, and at the Y, all of which have required me to race back inside in search of the plastic friend.

Baby is also starting to get a bit dirty. Her clothes are attached to her plastic body, so I can't take them off and wash them. I've tried to sneak her away from Erin in order to throw her into the washing machine, but I've been unsuccessful. Now, when I look at baby, I see...well...lots of lurking germs.

And the final complication lies in the fact that, unfortunately, baby does not really belong to Erin at all. It's Amy's doll, and she has been fairly accomodating towards Erin's needs. However, Amy has had a few cranky moments, when she tries to re-claim her doll by grabbing her out of Erin's hands. You can only imagine the chaos that results from that action.

Soon Erin will have a real baby sleeping in her room. I'm not sure that will provide any distraction for her, so I think that her toy baby is here to stay for awhile. But at least I don't think I have to worry about leaving the real baby outside on the swings!