Meh10

I think I might’ve posted not too long ago that I was *ready* for the inevitable. I mean cold weather. Turns out I am not really. It isn’t even that cold out. It was 49 degrees pretty much all day. It’s that WIND! And there’s the S-word that some of our sensationalist weather reporters keep sneaking into the edges of the forecast. It is certainly not too early for a wee bit of S here in October but not sure if we’re gonna go that low just yet. The Yooperland on the other hand? I saw pink on the weather map over by Marquette today. You know what that means, roight?

Fortunately, we have cute little entities like Softy Beanbag around, shown here helping us have a weeeee Sunday Nightcap in the Lyme Lounge. Softy is one of the aminals that helped me through some of the tougher spots of dealing with small children. Her main responsibility was facilitating phone calls between the GG and her owner when the GG was down here on The Planet and the rest of us were at the moomincabin. (Hey, I’m not crazy about phone calls either!)

A couple of relatives were skeptical and even a bit disdainful that I would actually use a stuffed aminal to work with a small child. What the heck? I was born with a scant selection of tools for dealing with children so I grabbed onto any tool that seemed to work. I’m pretty sure that Softy’s s-o-f-t (if high-pitched) voice was more influential than the wah wah wah of an adult barking out orders. (Although I sure did that too, oh boy oh boy oh boy!)

Softy Beanbag joined our family wearing only the fur she was born with but quickly acquired a cute little dress and a pair of, uh, lace pantaloons and has been wearing those articles of clothing for more years than I am strong enough to count.

Softy still lives at The Landfill and travels with the GG. One of my favorite memories of Softy was when the GG had signed up to help chaperone a second grade field trip. He had fastened Softy onto his backpack, facing outward, and one of the teachers, who had been having a rather difficult morning, said that as soon as she saw Softy there, she relaxed. A dad taking a stuffed mouse on a field trip was likely a good omen. The GG has always been good at the cat-herding that goes with parenting. Meeeee, not so much. Spreadsheets and databases and things, PLEASE!

One Response to “Meh10

  1. Margaret Says:

    Love this post and the story of Softy! I noticed that Ashley had (in prominent view) her stuffed cat, Sparkle Diamond. That bedraggled looking thing has traveled with her to numerous colleges and was a little bit of home. Even though she has a real cat now, she hasn’t forgotten her first “kitty.”