Thursday, August 28, 2008

Bunny, Pinky, Ellie, Fingers, Thumb?

When I was a child, my thing was this bunny - its name is, yes - Bunny! I don't know if it is a he or a she - but let me tell you - Bunny was loved! I loved to rub/scratch the ear and nose and place between the arm and neck. Generally just pick at it. I took Bunny everywhere and it was a joke that I would take Bunny on my honeymoon. I did, just to be funny!

Emily sucks her pointer and middle left fingers and loves this rabbit blanket named Pinky. Remember when Pinky was lost and found? Yes, she is well-loved too!


Rachel is a thumb girl and has this thing for Ellie the Elephant. Oh, and she has some Ellie jammies that are her favorite!


Samuel is also a thumb sucker - he has a little bear blankie named Sparky. I don't know that he is really attached to it - he can sort of take it or leave it. But, he definitely loves his thumb.

I saw this cute poem at the Children's Museum in Kansas City and took a picture for my little thumb lovers:
Here's what it says,
"Oh the thumb suckers thumb
May look wrinkled and wet
And withered and white as the snow
But the taste of a thumb
Is the sweetest taste yet
As only we thumb-suckers know."
~ Shel Silverstein ~
What about you? Did you have a favorite stuffed animal, blanket or finger to suck as a child? I'd love to hear about it!

42 comments:

Wendi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wendi said...

I was not attached to anything. My daughter, Megan is very attached to her Miss Bunny. It is a bunny blanket and she takes it everywhere! She has even woken up crying in the night when she has been unable to find Miss Bunny.

6:54 AM

Katy said...

I had a bunny growing up as well..and a walrus. But I don't think I named them! :) I believe I was a thumb sucker as well..hehe! Love the thumb suckers poem! To cute!

Laine said...

I had a blankie with a silky edge. My mom said that I used to stick my thumb into the silky edge (yes, I made a hole in it!) and suck my thumb with the silky part covering my thumb. (Yuck!)

Both of my children have blankies that they absolutely love. Thankfully they don't suck their thumbs though! =) They each also have one stuffed animal that they've had since they were babies that they love too!

Susan P. said...

Miss Bonnie was born a preemie and they had given her very little chance of surviving. I will never forget when the nurses told us that music would be a good thing in hopes of stimulating her. Mr. P literally sprinted to the gift shop and bought her a little musical elephant who became affectionately known as Ellie. Every time they allowed us to visit we would bring Ellie with us and we would rock and sing along to the music. Don't tell her I told you, but Miss Bonnie is 22 and still sleeps with her;o)

Anonymous said...

Oh what memories I have of Bunny! You definitely were attached to that sweet gift from Aunt Joanie. :) Love the photos and the poem about thumb-suckers -- which included me as a child! Love, Mom

Anonymous said...

i was a finger (pointer) sucker and I had/have a very worn yellow (but now looks dingy green) pillow case. Bri was a paci girl and doesn't really have a huge attachment to anything although she does love her pink blanky that I made her. Luke is thumb sucker and loves the feel of tshirt material and will rub his shirt sleeves.

being molded said...

I sucked the middle and ring fingers on my left hand. I also had a full size blanket, it was mustard yelllow (ick) and had a silky edge. I took it everywhre for a LONG time. My mother was a very patient woman ;)
My oldest dd prefered hte pointer and middle fingers and is on her second stuffed puppy. The first holds a place of honor on her bed. 2nd dd has "Bear" from Bear in the Big Blue House. She had a nuk that we got rid of when she was 3. my son has 2 blue blankets both with satin edges. They were supposed to be alternated in case one got lost, but that didn't last long. My nightmare is htat we lose BOTH of them. My youngest dd still has a nuk, she's 2 1/2, and 2 white blankets. Her favorite has satin edges also. Goodness we just love the satiny stuff on my family!

Zaankali said...

My kids never sucked their thumbs and never had attachments to anything (except maybe me those first years dropping my son off at school were not fun) but I sucked my thumb and had a favorite blankie. My poor parents tried everything to get me to stop sucking my thumb including smothering my thumb with Vaseline before I went to bed and then putting a sock over my hand. Yuck!
Smiles!

Tania said...

Give me my thumb and a crisp pillow case on my pillow and I was quite content. (when I was little)(-:

My oldest used to suck his thumb and rub his hair, my middle son sucks his pointer-middle finger on one hand and a middle-ring finger sucker on the other interchangeably with a little favorite mini pillow, and my youngest has a favorite blankie and sucks his thumb. (-:

What a cute poem, it is true if you never sucked your thumb you don't know how good it is. (-:

Linda said...

I had a little brown bear that just looked SOOOOOO angry, *lol* Perfect for me ;) I named him Bruno, after my uncle.. I only saw my uncle once a year and I loved him to death.. I mean, he's my dad's younger brother, was single at the time, so always time for fun and games..

And both my husband and I were thumbsuckers too.. until VERY late, I believe we were both over 16.... ;)

My daughter won't have anything of the above.. no favourite stuffed toy, no thumb, nothing.. I don't know where she gets it from....

greetings from holland!

Anonymous said...

I had a dog named Fred. He is in the attic right now. He's missing an eye and has had many repairs. I still talk to him if I come across him. All my kids have something, but my oldest, a boy, has a semi truck appropriately named 18 Wheeler. We have a Sweet Dolly, a Lucie, a Bluey - which is a blanket and a Dot. My youngest and last baby is a thumb sucker. I worked hard with the others to make them want a passy because I was afraid of the "take away" process. However, I want this last one to suck her thumb. And I am going to put that poem in a fram above her crib.

Elise said...

I had a thumb that my mom said I sucked off and on and if I had a particularly rough day in Kindergarten I would be sucking on my thumb.
Jackson never really used his thumb or blankie or anything.
Lilly sucked her thumb and loves her green blankie.
Fisher seems to like his two middle fingers. He also likes to have a blankie but doesn't have to have one.
Elise

The Liberty Belle said...

How precious! I didn't have an attachment as a child but a dear cousin of mine did. Her attachment was a pillow (a regular bed pillow) which she named Pillow Mae. She took Pillow Mae everywhere! The world may see her as a tough lay-it-on-the-line attorney nowadays...but she will always be that Pillow Mae toting sweetie to me.

Paula said...

I can't believe I haven't come across this poem before! My 4yo just cannot give up her thumb. We were talking about it yesterday and she said, "Maybe I won't suck it when I'm seven." Oh, dear! :)

Amy said...

So cute! I was a binkie girl, but my two children were both thumb suckers. Emily carries around her bunny everywhere, but our collection of bunnies is growing and now we carry around ten animals. UGH! :)Loved this post- so sweet!

GeonHui's Bakery said...

Hmm...I wasn't attached to anything but our daughter sucks her 2 middle fingers. I think it's cute, it's like she's signing 'I love you' :)

Our son was never really attached to anything either.

Also, I'd love to know what Children's museum you went to in KC, we're heading there to visit family in a few weeks and I've been checking out places to go. Also, anywhere else you'd suggest for a visit there. Thanks!

Krista said...

I had a bear named Bear. I slept with Bear every night until I was married...and I took Bear along on my honeymoon too! Hah.

I still have Bear. He sits on a shelf in our bedroom along with my husband's childhood toy, Paddington.

Melissa Martin said...

Curly Girl has the same pink bunny blanket! She calls it her Baby Bye. She loves that thing to death but she hasn't been carrying it around all the time like she used to. He stays in bed now.

Munchkin has a pink teddy bear named "Teddy", of course. He's almost gray now because he's loved so much.

Paige said...

When I was young, not baby young but child young, I had a boy doll named Fred. He had brown hair, hazel eyes and freckles. He wore a striped shirt, blue jeans and tennies. I prayed that my husband would look like Fred.
My kids are a mixed bag, paci's, thumbs, blankies and Momma (the giant paci). It's fun to see what they get attatched too.

Anonymous said...

I still have my bear, whose paws are worn out and patched lovingly. DH has left his bear at his mom's, in his bedroom (which is still just as it ever was)
My first son has a "magic" pillow, which is his first tiny goosedown pillow from his pram, and Gilbert, a well worn and extremely adored monkey. DD has a tiny Teddy and her thumb. DS2 has the ragged scraps of a cashmere cardigan which I wore in bed when I was pregnant with him. After five years of loving, and regular washing, it is down to a piece barely 10"x4". It has been to hospital twice with him and I shall certainly treasure any tiny pieces I can save eventually! Gill

LynnMarie said...

Our Sun had "Mr. Mouse" who was his best friend and was of course blamed for everything that went wrong. Who took (fill in the blank)? Mr. Mouse of course. Our daughter had a blankie. She carried it everyplace and would sit by the washer and dryer while it had a "bath". Great memories!

Sarah said...

I was attached to a blankie when I was little. I had one of those thermal blankets with the little cloth tag on one end. I would rub the little tag in bewtween my fingers, to this day I love the fleece blankets because of the fringe.I also sucked my thumb at night.

Jenny said...

I don't remember having anything but my daughter (who's 13 now) still has her "Blankie". Blankie was given to her for her first Chrismas and she has slept with it ever since. She also has one of my old half slips that she has been attached to since she was little. It's really silky and she always loved that. She calls that her "Slippy". Blankie has gotten so tattered and falling apart that now she keeps Blankie inside Slippy and has tied off both ends so Blankie won't fall out and it keeps Blankie protected. And yes she still sleeps with Blankie/Slippy everynight even when she goes on overnights with the Girl Scouts :-) We are very careful to make sure Blankie comes home with her as it would be disastorous if we lost Blankie!

~Jenny

Anonymous said...

My daughter became attached to the bumber pad of her crib! We had to take the bumper with us every place we went to! She'd drag it around all over. Finally, we cut it into pieces so Grandma could keep one at her house, one kept in the car, etc. She sucked her thumb for years!!

Kris

Susan said...

I myself was a thumb sucker a blanket I lovingly called WeeBee. Our boy does not seem to be attached to anything. My son does suck his binkie only to sleep. We call his binkie Mr. Binks.

Anonymous said...

My parents were concerned that I would be heading to Kindergarten and still sucking my thumb, so they paid me $1 to stop and I did!

My twins carried thermal blankets (pinkety and blooey) with them everywhere and all the time. When they were 5, we decided they could only have them at bedtime. My daughter is 7 and she just recently gave up pinkety. However, if someone is sick or gets hurt, she runs and gets one or both of the blankets. Obviously pinkety was a source of comfort to her - so she shares that comfort when it's needed.

OK, I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I am attached to my husband's tshirt. When he comes home from work, he cleans up and changes into a clean tshirt. When he goes to bed at night, he tosses his tshirt at me - I hold it throughout the night - I love to smell his sweetness on it!!! Barbara

Anonymous said...

Hello Monica,
I just wanted to tell you that I check a few blogs everyday (don't have one of my own yet) and I am very busy so don't get the chance to comment very often on the blogs, but I have to tell you, when I read yours, your girls' photos always make me SMILE so! I have two girls of my own, grown and in Graduate school and college and it brings back happy memories. But the faces on your two angels are just to precious. Enjoy every bit of them, because as you well probably know, they will grow so very fast. Thanks for sharing. Hugs, Rosemary P.S. I do enjoy your posts as well as the photos!~

Joy Cometh in the Morning said...

Hi Monica,
My "baby boy" had a bear he called Teddy. He will be 19 tomorrow and is a Soldier. My, how time flies!!

Melissa said...

Nothing for me but my Jane loves her thumb. She lost it for a while after we took our trip to IL but then found it again two weeks ago. Oh, how we all missed Jane's thumb!!! Things were quite strange around this house during the period when she stopped sucking her thumb.

gemma said...

Yes. A giant pink, fuzzy cat with green glass eyes. This was a big stuffed animal before the laws of protecting the children existed. It's name of course was Greeny Eyes and I brought that cat everywhere. My bedroom was at the top of the stairs, and being the youngest, I was in bed first. My oldest brother stayed up later than all of us young'uns and when he finally went to bed (around 8 PM more than likely) he would walk up the stairs --our doors were never closed and our rooms were really small -- reach in my room, grab Greeny Eyes and go off to bed. Before I woke up, Mom would go into his room, grab that popular kitty and bring it back to me....that is the family story!!! My brother hated that since I was only 3 or so and he was and always was 8 years older. Great stuff here thanks.

Mrs. Hurzeler said...

I had two baby blankets that were crocheted for me by a great aunt. And I loved them growing up, and then as I got older, like a teenager I loved to sleep with them as an extra pillow because they were so soft. During the first year of my marriage when my husband and I had to be in two different countries, it comforted me then too. And yes I still have it, however it is not in our bed. LOL.

Anonymous said...

I see a bunny theme!!!

Little Muffet also has a bunny named, you guessed it, with a satiny edge that my mother made for her. She loves to rub the satiny part in her fingers to soother herself... She also uses a pacifier but only for sleep! At 18 months, she is still not a great sleeper so we won't be getting rid of that too soon!!

Anonymous said...

I didn't have anything really and didn't suck my thumb. My Mom claims that it was because she comforted me constantly, so I didn't need anything else!

My daughter sucks her thumb all the time, but otherwise, we've convinced her to leave all her "lovies" and her blanket in her crib. This way we never lose it and we never get too attached!

My son is due in a month or so and I'm curious to see what blankets, stuffed toys, or fingers he loves.

Thanks for sharing the poem- I love it!

*carrie* said...

Cute post, Monica. As you know, I had my blankie and my right hand ring finger! =)

Anonymous said...

Well I have to admitt that I still suck my thumb and I am 37 years old! My parents did a whole heap of things to try and put me off but none of it worked. I also twiddle my hair. My maternal Grandma also sucked and twiddled.

My eldest had a sheet for years. My now 8 year old suddenly gave me his blanket last month and asked me to put it away just incase he wanted to show his kids one day. I seriously thought he would be carrying it down the aisle with hime. I was dragged everywhere when he was little and finally we made it a bed time thing. My 5 year old has a special blanket but it's not what you would call a special relationship. Four year old sucks two fingers and twiddles. We will have to see what the baby does!
Oh and I haven't ever had to have dental work

Molly said...

I wasn't attached to anything as a child, but my children sure are! #1 has Mr. Bear, VERY well loved after almost 11 years! #2 has a blanket and a stuffed dolphin. #3 has an Ellie the elephant, too, which she dearly loves. #4 is just attached to his paci and his mama! Ha ha! So glad to find your blog again. I lost your address in the transition to the States, so have LOTS of catch up reading to do! Have a great holiday weekend!

Julie said...

I had a lolly. Ok I had about three lollies (apparentley thats what I called everything.) But my favorite one and the one I remember was a pink rag doll with ping gingham dress and pink hat with yellow yarn hair and embroidered blue eyes. Oh how I loved her!
My oldest son used to suck his thumb and twirl his hair. When he was about three we got his hair cut in a crew cut. He came out, looked at me, shrugged his shoulders and said, "I guess I can't suck my thumb any more." LOL. It did not work though. He just sucked his thumb and ran his hand over his head.

Anonymous said...

I had a white blanket with satin trim. I don't know what happened to it over the years. My son slept with a stuffed Barney dinosaur up until 6th grade.

Jenny said...

What a fun post! I still have the blanket that my mom got at her baby shower for me. It's lovingly named Soft-by

Anonymous said...

I love that poem! I sucked my thumb, and had a favorite, ratty blanket to go with it. My second son sucks his two first fingers. It's kind of cute, but time to break the habit.

I have a blog award for you on my blog!

Unknown said...

I love it! My Daughter who just turned 7 has an elephant. She has had it since a baby. the tail has fallen off and is lost. The ears are rubbed away but it's still elephant to her. That is sweet photo of you and your mom and Bunny too.
I really like your blogg too.
Have a great weekend.
Katrina in AZ