Once upon a time there was a little girl who lovedsilk. It started, of course, with her baby blanket. To her, nothing was better than cuddling up with her blanket and rubbing the silk edges for comfort. But if the blanket wasn’t available, just about anything silky worked: her older sister’s vests with the silk back, winter coats, another sister’s Doodle-bears. She’d simply rub the silk, pop her thumb in her mouth and rest contentedly. But my sister Abby had nothing on her nephew Ethan!
Ethan, like my youngest sister, loves his silk-edged baby blanket. My mom made each of us a baby blanket, cross-stitched, quilted and completed with a silk edge. Now she has three bins full of said blankets, waiting for all the grandchildren she plans on having. Some of the blankets have already been marked as taken by my sisters. One even has a name pinned on it since my sister Grace has had the name for her first son chosen for the last twenty-or-so years. Since I didn’t find out what sex I was having, I made two choices for each and Mom delivered the masculine or feminine one after they were born. And while Emry likes her “Grandma blanket” as she calls it, Ethan can’t wander far from home without his. That blanket, stitched with red and blue trucks, firetrucks and helicopters is his safety net. He reaches for it and the blue silk edges any time he needs comfort or just wants to sit for a while. Thumb in mouth, he’s as happy as can be. Very much like Linus.
But while that blanket is his main source of comfort, just about anything silk will work in a pinch. I discovered that early on in his life when he was lying under my feet one day while I put my hair up in a pony tail. I had on my jogging pants, which he reached up to pull, discovered they were silky and immediately popped his thumb into his mouth and sighed happily. It reminded me of Abby and I laughed. These last couple of weeks he has discovered something even better: tags in his shirts.
His favorite shirt (with Spiderman on it) has this tag that refuses to lie flat. It is forever hanging out the back of his shirt. It’s one of those things I mean to cut but don’t dare do it when he has it on and then I forget when I take it off him. Rubbing the back of his head when he is tired is something he has done since he was first born. I think that’s how he discovered the silky tag. Now whenever he needs a moment of quiet or is upset, he reaches for the tag of whatever shirt he is wearing, rubs it between his fingers and pops his thumb into his mouth. Instant calm.
Someday, of course, he will grow out of this. (I hope!) But for now, it sure is cute!
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