Stuffed Cat
My preschooler won’t go anywhere without her very favorite friend - her stuffed cat. He’s just a little thing, floppy and with some missing whiskers, but to her - he’s a best friend. This stuffed cat has been part of her life since the day that we brought her home from the hospital. It used to be an adorable Gund that was full of fluff and incredibly clean. Three years later, the Gund quality has lasted but he does look as if he’s well loved. Which he is. She will not leave her bedroom without knowing where “Kitty” is and what he’s doing. Every so often I can convince her to leave him in the car while we go into a store, and she’ll let him take a nap in the car. However, if I dawdle too long in the store, she’ll start whining that she misses “Kitty”.
This stuffed cat has survived the washing machine at least once a month and being tossed around and stepped on. He’s been the victim of some times that my daughter was sick and didn’t quite make it to the bathroom on time. I have to say, he’s one tough stuffed cat. I suppose every child has a stuffed animal that they are most attached to. What’s interesting is that my daughter never took to a pacifier or wanted a bottle for too long. As long as her stuffed cat was in her crib or next to her, she was content. If the stuffed cat rolled out of sight in the night, she’d wake up screaming for him. She still does, on occasion.
My mother, of course, is thrilled that this stuffed cat is permanently attached to my daughter. She’s the one who purchased it for her on the day that she was born. I don’t mind that this stuffed cat has become such a fixture in my house, afterall, there are worse things. She could be obsessed with a bottle or a pacifier, or a blanket. A small stuffed cat is easy to carry around and pleasant to look at. I’m dreading the moment that the stuff started to come out of him, but so far the Gund brand is holding up very well. While I realize that the Gund is a great name brand, this stuffed cat has been abused horribly and still is intact. He even fell overboard in the ocean before when out deep sea fishing. Apparently the sharks weren’t hungry for stuffed cat that day, because we were able to rescue him and bring him back onboard with a large net. I can’t imagine what will happen if this stuffed cat ever disappears. I do know that in the future, if we’re searching for an animal that can withstand some rough
moments, we’re buying another Gund. No wonder their motto is “gotta get a Gund.”
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