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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Lovie Criteria

 “Happy is he who still loves something he loved in the nursery: He has not been broken in two by time; he is not two men, but one, and he has saved not only his soul but his life.”
~G.K. Chesterton

The children often nap with beloved “lovies” from home. Blankets, bears, dolls, and some things no one can quiet make out what they are.
When the “lovies” appear they are like long lost friends to certain kids. If you ever decide to ask a child about this special ‘friend’ you will find there is Lovie Criteria that usually goes along with it.
I am not shy to say that I myself have had many “lovies” over my lifetime. Button noses and eyes have all been loved off along with patches of fur or yarn hair on it is mistakenly thrown away as a rag or garbage.
Perhaps that's why I had one up until recently. I travel a lot so I used to take her out when I went on plane trips.
My husband thought it was kind of endearing but said her name didn't fit because she has long since faded to a pale washed gray.
Her name was, Purple Croissant.
At least that’s all I could use her for then when I traveled; a crescent neck roll. Yes, she was that worn.
What was she before? Who knew, but from what I could recall she was tough, a good friend and knew karate. She feel apart in my arms one day after a washing. I just about did, too.
Now that I am older, I've learned to put my love into things that won't fall apart after too much love and too many washings.
You may have had a lovie yourself. But here is that Lovie Criteria to look out for.


Lovie Criteria for Adults and Children:

1. Relating to a physical object from childhood or that reminds you of childhood that gives you comfort.
2. Giving the lovie a ‘name’.
3. Giving the lovie a personality.
4. No one else ever asks to use or share a lovie after a while; everyone just seems to know whose it is.
5. Hurting someone’s feeling involves hiding or ‘choking a lovie’ (not too nice).
6. New lovies or washed lovies just aren’t the same.
7. A lovie thrown out without the person’s knowledge is an awful feeling.

4 comments:

  1. Oh, my lovie...suck-a-thumb is a yellow monkey that is only about a foot long, if that, and he, shockingly, sucks his thumb!

    Yep, I still have it! His mouth has been glued back into place multiple times, holes sewn up in his neck, and I used to carry him EVERYWHERE!

    Oh, I also have to add, Number 5 up there? HILARIOUS! I laughed out loud on the "choking a lovie"

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  2. Hi Jenni! I think there was an episode on 'Ugly Betty' where her coworkers harassed her by kidnapping her lovie and sending her ransom pictures of it tied up.
    It was a riot. Of course it wasn't happening to me....
    I had to pay my sister not to choke my dolls. I was too embarrassed to tell my mother I was paying in the first place.

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  3. My son had a favorite stuffed animal cat that he named "Lovie" when he was very, very young. I had never heard that expression before, neither had my wife. We wonder if someone said it to him or if he came up with it all on his own. Today, at the age of seven, Lovie still sleeps in his bed along with a host of other stuffed friends.

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  4. Hi TINKINK Publishing, I always did wonder what made one toy special above all others. If he did hear it from somewhere he must have thought enough of the name to name it after his favorite stuffed cat.
    If you find out let us know, too.
    I am still racking my brain where I got the name, "Purple Croissant" from!

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