Just Call Him Linus

You know that beloved character from the Peanut's gang, Linus? (Hint-he's the one that drags his blanket with him wherever he goes.) Well, our little boy is starting to resemble him, in more ways then one. Take the following excert from an article I recently found on this endearing character:

One of pop art’s great emblematic figures of human spirituality stands only three inches high, sucks his thumb like a lollipop, and perpetually carries a blue blanket wherever he goes, clutching it close to him for security from a hostile world.

Tell me that's not Benjamin! Like Linus, he sucks his thumb constantly and has begun dragging his blanket all over the house and beyond. It's ironic that Benjamin's blankie is also blue. He has it at bedtime, naptime, some meal times, and everytime he watches a movie.  It is his comfort when he is sad or hurt and he snuggles it while we read stories. It has begun accompanying us on our way to early morning swim class and he even demands it while laying on the changing table, getting a new diaper or getting dressed.

Oh, and just any blanket won't do, either. It must be the soft quilt that his Grandma Peggy made him when he was born, the one that matches the rest of his bedding. I love that it's one of a kind, made just for him, but now it stresses us both out when it's MIA or in the wash. After all, I can't just run up to Target and buy a new one as a back-up. Also, because it was made for his bed, it is quite large. So when he takes it out of his crib (the blanket spends more time out of his bed than in it these days) it is literally getting dragged around on the floor, picking up dust, dog hair, dirt, crumbs, and I'm sure all kinds of other things I'd rather not think about. I watch him put it up to his face with his thumb in his mouth and I wonder what kind of germs are touching his sweet skin. Like I said, I try not to think about it (as I furiously mop the floor multiple times a day.)

I do love that Benjamin has some coping strategies when he is sad or hurt or scared. He sucks his thumb, snuggles his blanket, and lays his head on my shoulder when he needs comfort. However, I find myself wondering if he will be 10 years old and still dragging his blankie off to school with his thumb in his mouth. I'm sure he won't, but the thought does linger. One thing that can stick around forever, though, are his hugs. I hope he never outgrows those.

Snack Time

Movie Time

Play Time

Rest Time

I definitely think there are worse characters that Benjamin could emulate. As I purused the aforementioned article, I found myself rereading this particular paragraph:

Charlie Brown himself sees the world as a cruel place, yet his disillusionment has no philosophical outlet; his unending misery begets misery, he falls into the same patterns daily— attempting to kick Lucy’s football and always falling flat on his back, continually flying his kite into the same carnivorous oak tree. Linus, on the other hand, seeks religion and philosophy as the key to understanding his universe. Free of Charlie Brown’s suffocating self-pity, Linus realizes that there must be a divine purpose, an order to everything that extends beyond the boundaries of his daily world of four blocks, cut into strips, often black-and-white, sometimes color.

Yep, I'll take Linus over Charlie Brown, Spiderman, or Spongebob any day. :)