Show And Tell: E Is For Emergency Blanket

Behold my son's blue camo blanket known around my house simply as, "My Blue Blanket!"  It is an item that my otherwise fiercely independent son has a developed a strong attachment to.  We have no idea why he loves this particular blanket.  It's certainly not the blanket that I lovingly crocheted for him when I was pregnant.  No this is a blue blanket that I bought at a large chain baby store.  It was an impulse by that I paid about $19.95 less the 20 percent coupon I always carry in my purse.

I'm not particularly bitter that he chose this blanket over the one I personally made him. Sure, maybe I should have encouraged him to hang out with my blanket more. I could have wrapped him up in that blanket at night, but I didn't and I am going to have to just live with that fact.

OK, I guess I'm a little bitter about his love for the camo blanket, but this is a good lesson for me.  He is after all allowed to make some of his own decisions.  It's not like he's going to let me pick his wife. Is he? Why is is that I suddenly see the appeal of arranged marriages from the groom's Mom's perspective? Seriously, I'm kidding.

The real issue I have with the blanket is that it has been discontinued. What the heck were we going to do if we  lost the thing and couldn't come up with a replacement.  Have you ever tried reasoning with a 2-year old? If you haven't, don't bother trying it isn't going to work.

My husband, and I'm sure this is why they awarded him that PhD, told me to look online and find an emergency replacement blanket. A blanket we could store up in the top of the closet just in case something awful should befall his current love.  With two other kids in the house that blanket could easily become a casualty of war. His older sister has already taken to hiding the blanket when she is angry with him.

I looked online and guess what, Ebay had the exact same blanket for sale.  I didn't do a little happy dance though, because they wanted nearly 100 bucks for the thing. Are you kidding me! The seller clearly knew the blanket had been discontinued too.  I admit I was both disgusted and in awe of their gall to charge so much for the blanket.  Who knew there was this whole underground market for replacement lovies and blankies?  This is clearly the seedy underbelly of parenting where sellers (likely parents themselves) pray on the fears of parents.

We didn't end up buying the blanket from Ebay.  I managed to find the emergency blanket on Amazon for far less, but still way more than what I paid for the original.  It pays to be a bit persistent. It also helped that I wasn't currently in dire need of an emergency blanket. Below is a picture of my emergency blanket.



You may think I am crazy for purchasing an emergency blanket.  I look at it as a small price to pay for his happiness.  I won't be able to fix all the boo-boos or heartache in his life, but at least I have this one beat.  Plus, if he never uses the thing I can sell the sucker on Ebay for a nice profit.

The next time your kid has show and tell and needs something for the letter "E" give them the receipt for your emergency replacement blanket. For goodness sake don't send them with the actually emergency blanket. Those things are far to valuable.