Blue Blankie...

So...Joel hasn't been feeling so hot the past few days. He's had lots of puking and diarrhea (sorry to be gross!) but the trauma of sickness and sore buns has paled in comparison to being temporarily separated from his one and only...Mr. Blue Blankie.

Mister Blue Blankie, you say?? Yes. Blue Blankie is not merely a 36"x36" piece of double-layered blue and white fleece...he is a member of the family.

After, well...let's just say a "messy" trip in the car with a sick toddler, there was no choice but to wash blue blankie. It was now my mission to gently remove blankie from said toddler and commence with cleaning.

The soaking, pre-washing, washing, and drying cycles (YES...all four steps were absolutely necessary!) meant that Joel was to be separated from blue blankie for approximately 36 hours.

No problem, right?

I did what any rational, clear-minded person would do. I got out Mr. Orange Blankie and tried to pull the old switcheroo. That substitution did not go unnoticed by my less rational, less clear-minded two-year-old son.

No problem.

I am in complete and total control of my mind and emotions. I am also covered in the residue of various bodily fluids of both my son and daughter as I simply explain that Blue Blankie was dirty and he needed a bath just like Joel and Gracie and Daddy and (on a good day) Mommy get to take baths. We walked to the washing machine and checked on Blankie before we headed to bed. Joel bid farewell to his friend and wished him the best as he headed for his travels through the vast sea of our Kenmore washer.

Morning arrives. Birds are chirping...the sun is shining...Joel is screaming "MOMMY! MOMMY!" from his bedroom. We get up and get ready for the day. "Where is Blue Blankie?" he asks.

Right.

Mom did NOT switch loads of laundry before going to bed last night. Blue Blankie is STILL in the washer. Queue meltdown.

Well...no need to make this an exhaustingly long story. Blue Blankie eventually made it through the dryer no worse for wear, and I got to watch my son scoop him up in an embrace one might see at the reunion of a soldier returning to his family after years in the war.

"Oh, Blankie!" he says..."You so soft."

Ahhhh...mission accomplished.

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Okay...I just have to add this. I actually posted this entry and walked out to my living room where Joel promptly (as in...within 2 minutes of my arrival) puked, once again, all over Blue Blankie. This is a 100% true story. How can one do anything BUT laugh at things like this. As I type, Blue Blankie is BACK in the washing machine! Oh my!