Children have always had a special toy or scrap of what used to resemble a blanket that they hold dearest above all other worldly possessions (and usually siblings too). My children are no exception. I allow them to have one special item that they do not have to share with any other kids. I'm sure if you're a parent you've done a similar thing. What I did not anticipate was that a beloved stuffed animal would challenge my parenting style and lessons taught to my children.
My oldest daughter has had this stuffed lamb since she was born. Cute right? But like a teenage friend that you don't want your own teenager to hang out with anymore, lest they set a bad example for your child, I'm beginning to think I need to call up Lamby's parents and have a chat.
Lamby when she was still an innocent stuffed animal.
Lamby and Child #1 have been inseparable since birth, but I think it might be time for a break. You see recently I've been hearing about a lot of books that Lamby has been reading to my daughter. It seems like whenever my daughter and I are having a discussion about something, Lamby has a book on the subject. Here's one that happened today:
Child: "Mommy, do bugs and insects go to heaven?"
Me: "That's a good question. I know more about what happens to people." (Yeah, I'm dodging that bullet for now...)
Child: "Well, Lamby has a book about whether or not bugs and insects go to heaven and she read it to me and it says that bugs and insects do go to heaven."
Great, now if I call Lamby out on her heretical book about bugs and the afterlife, I'm the bad guy. And this isn't the only book Lamby has. The lamb has a freaking "Beauty and the Beast" library on everything that a preschooler wants to discuss. And let me tell you, 98% of the time, Lamby's books disagree with Mommy's ideas. I remember a specific time that Lamby had a book on "Where Gasoline for Cars Comes From at the Gas Station" and it was NOT in a tank under the ground. But Lamby's book collection trumps Mother's Explanation. Every. Time. Stupid lamb even made me wikipedia a few things to make sure I wasn't crazy. And now I know I'm crazy for doubting myself based on the imaginary book collection of a stuffed animal.
I just don't know what to do. If I ban Lamby's book collection, no doubt more books would surface and be read in secret. I'm sure Lamby is just dying to read "Why You Don't Need to Brush Your Teeth Every Day" or "Your Parents Can't Really MAKE You Eat Your Vegetables" or even "You Can Go to Bed, But You Don't Have to Sleep: A Nighttime Activity Book". So I guess for now, I'll play nice with Lamby, and we can just agree to read different books.
