Friday 3rd December 2010
by Francesca Donner
There are toys and then there are toys.
And there are toys and then there are obsessions.
Enter: The Owl
I found the owl the other day at Planet Kids. She was strapped into a cardboard box and her wide eyes looked at me and spoke to me. And if they spoke to me, I thought they might speak to August.
Little did I know…
August is, frankly, addicted to the owl.
She’s a silly-looking thing. In lieu of feet she has one green plastic leaf and one wooden ring which are strung on to cloth “legs.” Her wings are one red, one blue and they make crinkly noises. When you shake her, a twinkling sound emanates from her fat tummy. And speaking of tummies, she has a baby owl attached by a string tucked into her tummy pocket. August spent a good portion of yesterday licking the eyes of the baby owl. And August spent a good portion of today sucking on the pointy tip of one of the momma owl’s ears until it was damp through.
There we are. August loves his owl. I didn’t even know children as young as he could have obsessions. But they do. And clearly this is his.
How does this stuff happen? Travis’s niece has three different versions of her stuffed elephant she’s had since she was born. And all three have become part of the family.