Reverting to childhood and motion sensored monkeys

My hubby came home from a business trip and dumped a pile of treasures out of his suitcase, onto the bed.  "Here," he says.  "You can have these if you want them.  They are the ad items the vendors gave us."  Since he was at a very prestigious event, the ad items were pretty high end: Leather Ipad cases with attached note pads, ergo pens, a silver ball puzzle globe, I-accessories like ear buds and misc. and a Snoopy dog dressed in a tuxedo. 

I riffled through the stuff, having an IPad - some of it was of mild interest.  I snagged the puzzle globe for the grandsons, and put the ear buds on my night stand.  I giggled like a schoolgirl over the cute Snoopy dog and sheepishly put it back in the midst of the other little treasures.

When I came back to the bedroom, the pile was picked up, clothes were put away and there on my pillow - sat the Snoopy!  He is adorable!  My brain screamed "awwww!" but I just smiled and was reminded once again, how well my husband knows me and how much he takes care of me - especially in the "awww" and "wow" departments.

And while I'm thinking about it. . . as a child, I never had a soft spot for stuffed animals.  I didn't have a bear collection, had only one Barbie, one stuffed Rabbit on my bed from an Easter gift.  Then, a few years ago, I started to find and gather up sheep decor (for my yarn shop).  Figurines, stuffed animals, yard sheep, soap sheep, puppet sheep.  And I also started to notice places like Build a Bear shops with the cool clothes for the Bears and the neat shoes and accessories!  There was a lot of "awwww!" in that store. 

I also started to pick up stuffed animals and rock them like an infant as I browsed through the piles of big-eyed, long eared, fluffy soft toys searching for just the right one.  I caught myself more than once, rocking a stuffed sheep in the cashier's line. . .

It also happened that people could not really pick these creatures for me.  My hubby would hand me a sheep and say "here's a good one!" and I'd look at it and say "No, that one isn't right."  He thought I was nuts.  How can it not be "right", he'd ask?  Well, for one thing - look at the eyes.  The eyes aren't looking right. And the shape of the head. . . too flat.  Ears - too short.  Nose - too pointy.  Body - too stiff.  But thanks for trying.

And it wasn't just sheep!  It quickly moved to penguins, a collection that was supported by my son-in-law who seemed to find just the right ones with just the right faces.  Some how HE got it right! Gifts from him included the penguin seat belted into my back seat of my car that I didn't see for 2 days even thought I drove a lot - each day, to a penguin cookie!

Then, my need for "awwww" moments moved on to baby animals.  I noticed that I had been spending a lot of time looking at puppy stories on Facebook, bought a baby polar bear calendar, and spent time chuckling over pets dressed in halloween costumes!  What is going on here?  In my career, my office only had tastefully framed photos of my children and their ocassional art work (sometimes taped to the back of my door or inside of my credenza doors to keep my office "professional" looking yet let me keep my children close to me).  Looks like the dam broke and now every cutsey, fluffy, big-eyed animal found its way to me in one form or another.

I wonder if this joy of simple, ever smiling, soft and cuddly toys and adorable baby animals is a function of age?  Getting older and finding a need to laugh more, cuddle more, and play more?  If so, then I guess reverting to childhood isn't such a bad thing, until it comes time for the Depends. . . .

Gotta go.  There is a motion sensor monkey in the family room, who laughs and giggles and rolls on the floor when you get near him, calling my name on this fine Sunday! 

TTFN!