End of an Era

Anyone who knows Matt understands his undying love for his blanket. When he was small he took an intense liking to a yellow blanket that was made for him by Rich's Aunt Nancy. This blanket was never far from Matt's side. It was his ultimate companion and that's saying a lot since he has a twin brother! I could make a scrapbook of the places that blanket had gone. From Mexico to Boston to California to Missouri, it came along too.

Last summer Matt's eagle eyes spied some amazing Star Wars fabric at Wal-mart. He said he would trade his beloved yellow blanket for a new Star Wars one. My mom sewed like a mad woman and a day later, Matt had a brand new Darth Vader and Yoda Star Wars blanket. It was the best gift he had gotten all year. He had promised that the new blanket would stay on his bed, but soon off it went from place to place. It was almost lost at a pumpkin patch here in Lexington and many tears were shed until it was recovered.

The thing he loved most about the blankets were the yarn ties that he would hold and rub on his nose while he sucked his thumb. It was a cute sight to see when he was small, but at nearly six it had lost it's charm. Plus with two more kids in tow I really didn't love hauling the thing around and getting scolded when it wasn't brought along. Many can attest to that!

We have been talking to Josh and Matt for over a year about how and why they need to stop sucking their thumbs, but we weren't getting too far. We started to tape Josh's thumb at night, but Matt just held his blanket in bed and sucked til he fell asleep.

That was until two weeks ago. We were driving to church and Matt had decided he wasn't going to put on his seat belt. I didn't realize this until we had driven for some time and told him that he would have to loose his blanket for a week because he chose to not wear a seat belt after I had asked him to strap in. The first two days and nights were hard and I did allow him to have the blanket when he went to sleep, but after three days, suddenly the need for the blanket disappeared. I also noticed that he wasn't sucking his thumb and the blanket was no where to be found when we were out and about or at bed time.

A few days ago we went to Build-A-Bear at the mall to preview what the boys were going to get on their birthday on the 29th of June. Josh said he wanted to get a dog bed for his new dog and Matt was going to get a new turtle. When we got home Matt found one of Rich's shoe boxes from his Father's Day gifts and made a bed for Froggy. When I went up to look, he told me his blanket made it soft for the frog and there it has stayed for four days. It's hard to believe that two bad habits could cure themselves in a matter of days, but there you have it. It's wasn't a miracle, but it seems like one to me. It should give anyone hope that maybe someday wishes do come true!