Remember When ↠ l.p.

Toby

"Well, what about this one?" I ask Cailyn. We've managed to move the majority of her toys into the other room, although some of the lesser used ones have been boxed up and put into closets. Now we're going through her favorite toys, the ones she plays with nearly after day. And of course the plush animals that she sleeps with at night. I swear she has at least a dozen she has in her bed with each night. She's having a hard time choosing between them.

I'd almost feel bad, making her choose between these ones that she obviously loves. Then I consider how many toys I've just moved from her room (I honestly didn't know she had that many toys despite the fact that I'm so often picking them up from the floor) and the fact that she sleeps with a dozen each night. That's when I give myself a pat on the back and reassure myself that this isn't cruel, but logical and probably good for her.

"But," she frowns sadly "Jeeves is the perfect size for neck snuggling, when I want to neck snuggle." She takes him from my hands and demonstrates what she means, lying down on her bed, pulling him close and then snuggling her head underneath his chin. Then she sits up and hands him back down to me. She's sitting atop her bed like a little princess while I sit on the floor in a pile of her teddy bears (she has three teddy bears she's especially attached to), turtles, tigers, and a few dolls. I had hoped that getting through the toys on her bed would go quicker as there were less of them.

Sadly I was wrong. Every now and then I will glance over at the pile of coloring books, animal books, Barbies, and princess dresses with dread. So far we've been going through stuffed-toyed animals for fifteen minutes, with only one absolute decision. All the others she's found an excuse for keeping with her. Honestly, I wouldn't have asked her to go through her bed toys...but I had been wondering when I should ask her about whittling the group down. I thought since we were cleaning out the rest of the room, what could be a better time?

Now we're beginning to run out of time, the process of going through her favorites having gone on longer than I thought it would. Louis took Tessie out for a day with him and they weren't planning to get home until dinner time. It's four thirty-three. "Okay," I sigh in defeat. "Jeeves will have to stay then. What about...Mr.Raccoon here?" I hold up a raccoon with greatly exaggerated whiskers.

She ponders him, reaching down to stroke his head before giving a solemn nod. "I suppose Henry can be moved to the other room. I never really liked him," she whispers "but Tessie thought he looked funny and cute. So I kept him up here."

"I see, how sweet of you." I smile up at her. I never get tired of watching Cailyn's relationship with Tessie. Cailyn is...how much older? A year and a few months of something like that. I forget, but she's a bit more mature than Tessie. She seems to realize this sometimes and then she starts taking care of Tessie in that area. Say Tessie hasn't quite figured out how to tie her shoes properly, Cailyn would then tie her shoes for her. I think it's the cutest thing in the world.

"Mommy, what about Toby?" Cailyn points to the one animal that I'd set a little bit apart from the pile. I assumed that she wouldn't even consider putting him in the other room. She's slept with him every since I got him for her, when she wasn't even one yet. He's become worn and raggedy, but I hadn't noticed he wasn't as much of a favorite. I knew she had stopped carrying him around everywhere, but I just thought that was because it was a phase. She's stopped carrying things around with her in general. I didn't know...

"Toby?" I ask, trying to sound neutral. "Do you want him to move to the other room too?" I pick Toby up gently and turn him around to face me. His stitched smile is faded on the left side and his arms sag, the stitching loose from being pulled around to so often.

"Yes, I think it's time." Cailyn nods, with a smile. She holds her arms out for Toby, I hand him over. She gives him a hug, then gently tosses him down to the small pile of toys leaving. There's a slight sting to this. Mother warned me she would start growing up before I even realized it. Is this what she meant?