If you follow me on instagram, you may have noticed that a stuffed strawberry frequently makes an appearance alongside Mabrey. My cousin gifted Mabrey the Ikea strawberry lovey over a year ago and, ever since, the two have been inseperable. Mabrey and her strawberry are BFF’s. Mabrey affectionately refers to her lovey as “B” and their relationship is just about the sweetest thing I’ve ever encountered.
My boys had blankies they loved when they were babies and toddlers but they only slept with them. (They still do but they don’t have to have them.) The blankies never made it out of their beds. But Mabrey and B go everywhere together. Mabrey talks to B. Mabrey sleeps with her face buried in B. Mabrey clings to B when she’s upset. B sits on the corner of the kitchen island to watch Mabrey eat. B goes for rides in the car with Mabrey. Mabrey takes B along for walks in her stroller. B watches movies with us. (To date, the only movie Mabrey has sat through from start to finish is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. One of the main characters is a little strawberry.) Mabrey makes us talk to, hug and kiss B. Mabrey blames B for her messes.
Me: Maaay-breeee, who dumped out all the Legos?
Mabrey: B did-dit.
So it should come as no surprise that our entire family was completely heartbroken when B went missing last month. Ironically enough, we lost B on a trip to Ikea – the same place B hails from. I wasn’t paying attention (I am easily distracted at Ikea) and didn’t realize that B had made it into the store with us. So I never noticed when Mabrey accidentally left B lying somewhere. In fact, I didn’t notice B was missing until after we returned home and I was putting Mabrey down for her nap. I couldn’t find B. She wasn’t in the car. She wasn’t in the house. She wasn’t dropped between the car and the house.
Frantically, I called Ikea. You can imagine how confusing that phone call was for the person on the opposite end of the line.
Me: Hi. We were just at your store and my daughter lost a stuffed strawberry. It’s actually an item you guys used to carry so someone may have thrown in onto a shelf thinking it belonged to the store but ours has all the tags removed. Has anyone turned it in?
Ikea employee: (silence for a while) So….um….you bought a strawberry today?
I left my name and phone number but, needless to say, no stray stuffed strawberries had been turned in. I broke the news to Mabrey telling her B was all gone. B went bye-bye. Initially, she took it pretty well. I think I was more upset than she was. Everett came to the rescue and selflessly offered up his stuffed puppy for Mabrey to sleep with. Mabrey went down for her nap (with Everett’s puppy) with no problems. She didn’t mention B anymore that day. She went to bed that night with Everett’s puppy and didn’t make a peep. I was relieved.
I’m a firm believer in “everything happens for a reason.” Mabrey seemed to be handling the loss of B quite well so I thought maybe it was meant to be. Maybe it was time to move on.
The next morning I went in the nursery and lifted Mabrey out of her crib.
Mabrey: B go bye-bye.
A lone tear rolled down her cheek. Ugh. My heart sank. I felt horrible. Mabrey had lost her best friend. Normally, Mabrey is a pretty happy girl but that day she was pitiful. She was sad and clingy and mentioned B several times throughout the day. I was sad, too. Screw “everything happens for a reason.”
When Steve came home from work that evening, we scoured the internet for a B replacement. (Our local Ikea no longer carried the stuffed strawberry.) We found a new one on eBay for $15 and bought it immediately. It took six days for B 2.0 to arrive and it was a loooooong six days. Mabrey was sleeping okay with her brother’s puppy stand-in but she asked for B from time to time and she wasn’t her normal happy self. I was anticipating the arrival of B 2.0 but worried that Mabrey might not go for it. Surely, B 2.0 wouldn’t look, smell or feel exactly the same as the original.
Much to my surprise Mabrey took to the replacement. I remember handing her B 2.0 for the first time. I could tell right away Mabrey knew it wasn’t the real B. But after a few seconds a huge smile spread across her face and she gave B 2.0 a big heartfelt squeeze. B 2.0 was better than nothing. B 2.0 was good enough. I had my happy girl back.
Now Mabrey treats B 2.0 just like the original. They are best friends and I am so grateful for a happy ending to our lost lovey story.
A lost lovey might seem like a minor thing to get worked up about but it really felt as if Mabrey had lost her best friend and, being her mom, I felt like I was the one who had let her down by not paying closer attention to B’s whereabouts. Has your child ever lost a lovey? How did your child react? How did you react? I hope your stories have happy endings, too.
images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
family life, kid-friendly