Every parent knows that once a child has adopted a favourite toy or softy, there is no replacing it, and a crisis of international proportions looms if that particular friend goes missing. Simon has had the same softy (in French, "doudou") since he was about 6 months old, and Benjy similarly adopted one when he was about the same age. Simon's, called Little Prince, has been confined to his bed since Simon's third birthday, and only comes out if we are travelling. So far he's never gone missing for more than 15 minutes or so. He has got grubby at times, but washes well, and has come out of his first four and a half years looking pretty good.
Benjy's softy is called Bengy (yes, it's confusing, but that is what it says on his label) and he has spent more of his life on African floors than Little Prince. Thanks to some foolish parental behaviour he also ended up with some large holes ... and thanks to Benjy's gnawing teeth many little ones.
Then came the day when the (admittedly filthy) Bengy got thrown into a basin of water at 6pm by Benjy's "helpful" older brother who thought he would "clean" Bengy. Very unhappy Mummy, as I do prefer softies to be dry when they are taken to bed, especially during rainy season when they can smell very mouldy! So I decided that Bengy couldn't get any wetter, so I would give him a proper clean, and just to buy myself some time brought an alternate softy out of the cupboard, one rejected by Benjy many months ago. He also has "Bengy" on his label, so I said, "Look, Benjy! New Bengy!"
And Benjy adopted him and hasn't spoken of old Bengy since. Now Benjy isn't stupid, and new Bengy is quite obviously different from old Bengy, so I can only assume that Benjy was a bit tired of old Bengy's damp smell and head coming loose, and decided to quit while he was ahead. ("Ahead" in this case being "in possession of a clean, sweet-smelling and actually soft softy"!)
And here they are, old Bengy after being washed and just before retirement:
New Bengy:
And here is Simon with the Little Prince in his hand, at 5 months old!
And again when he was nearly 3:
Benjy's softy is called Bengy (yes, it's confusing, but that is what it says on his label) and he has spent more of his life on African floors than Little Prince. Thanks to some foolish parental behaviour he also ended up with some large holes ... and thanks to Benjy's gnawing teeth many little ones.
Then came the day when the (admittedly filthy) Bengy got thrown into a basin of water at 6pm by Benjy's "helpful" older brother who thought he would "clean" Bengy. Very unhappy Mummy, as I do prefer softies to be dry when they are taken to bed, especially during rainy season when they can smell very mouldy! So I decided that Bengy couldn't get any wetter, so I would give him a proper clean, and just to buy myself some time brought an alternate softy out of the cupboard, one rejected by Benjy many months ago. He also has "Bengy" on his label, so I said, "Look, Benjy! New Bengy!"
And Benjy adopted him and hasn't spoken of old Bengy since. Now Benjy isn't stupid, and new Bengy is quite obviously different from old Bengy, so I can only assume that Benjy was a bit tired of old Bengy's damp smell and head coming loose, and decided to quit while he was ahead. ("Ahead" in this case being "in possession of a clean, sweet-smelling and actually soft softy"!)
And here they are, old Bengy after being washed and just before retirement:
New Bengy:
And here is Simon with the Little Prince in his hand, at 5 months old!
And again when he was nearly 3:
1 comment:
Awwww. (Zac looks like Simon in the bottom photo when he sleeps!)
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