When my grandmother died in 1992, one of the random things I inherited was a stuffed raccoon containing a music box that plays "It's a Small World." When Bean was about three, he latched onto it for a time and simply would not go to sleep at night unless you wound up his "Crackeroon." After awhile the music box wore out and would only play the song really slow, so I packed up the Crackeroon in a garage storage box. I wasn't ready to just throw it away, because it belonged to my grandma. It stayed in the garage the entire year we lived on the coast and Bean never even asked about it. Then, it got unearthed again during our move. (It's fascinating what turns up when you move, isn't it?) I looked at it, with its tail missing and threadbare fur and broken music box, and I almost chucked it, but I was out of room in my miniscule garbage can.
Well, then, the kids got their paws on it and Bean had this huge surge of tender feelings for his beloved Crackeroon. He decided one day that he needed to give it to Roo, even though he said something like it was going to break his heart to do it. So he put it in her crib and started winding it up for her at every opportunity. Never mind that Roo couldn't care less, I was pleased at Bean's selflessness.
Then the baby was born and Bean just knew that the Crackeroon would bring her all the joy there is to be had in life. He started bringing it in to my room and winding it up and laying it lovingly next to her, convinced it would soothe her to sleep or make her stop crying. Very sweet gestures, but unfortunately I was usually trying to go to sleep with the baby and the Crackeroon does NOT soothe me to sleep. In fact, it drives me insane. The song plays erratically and sometimes stops for hours only to suddenly play a few notes randomly when you've forgotten that the Crackeroon is even there.
The Crackeroon has been violently ejected by the Badger from our bedroom several times in the middle of the night when it decided to leak a few notes and wake us all up. The Badger, being very sensitive to noise, is very much in favor of the Crackeroon taking a one-way trip to the landfill, and I would agree except that I respect Bean's feelings of attachment to it.
However, the day of the landfill trip may be coming soon. Bean took a picture of his Crackeroon yesterday and said "I'm taking this picture so I can always remember my Crackeroon even after it's gone." And his interest in it has waned the last couple of weeks. I could probably get away with sneaking it into the big black can when he's not looking.
What do you think? Would it be callous and cruel of me to throw away the Crackeroon? Or is it time for all of us to move on?
Well, then, the kids got their paws on it and Bean had this huge surge of tender feelings for his beloved Crackeroon. He decided one day that he needed to give it to Roo, even though he said something like it was going to break his heart to do it. So he put it in her crib and started winding it up for her at every opportunity. Never mind that Roo couldn't care less, I was pleased at Bean's selflessness.
Then the baby was born and Bean just knew that the Crackeroon would bring her all the joy there is to be had in life. He started bringing it in to my room and winding it up and laying it lovingly next to her, convinced it would soothe her to sleep or make her stop crying. Very sweet gestures, but unfortunately I was usually trying to go to sleep with the baby and the Crackeroon does NOT soothe me to sleep. In fact, it drives me insane. The song plays erratically and sometimes stops for hours only to suddenly play a few notes randomly when you've forgotten that the Crackeroon is even there.
The Crackeroon has been violently ejected by the Badger from our bedroom several times in the middle of the night when it decided to leak a few notes and wake us all up. The Badger, being very sensitive to noise, is very much in favor of the Crackeroon taking a one-way trip to the landfill, and I would agree except that I respect Bean's feelings of attachment to it.
However, the day of the landfill trip may be coming soon. Bean took a picture of his Crackeroon yesterday and said "I'm taking this picture so I can always remember my Crackeroon even after it's gone." And his interest in it has waned the last couple of weeks. I could probably get away with sneaking it into the big black can when he's not looking.
What do you think? Would it be callous and cruel of me to throw away the Crackeroon? Or is it time for all of us to move on?
5 comments:
a picture is worth a thousand words and a good night sleep is more precious than words can describe
What about just taking the music box out of Crackeroon and holding on to it as a lovey a bit longer?
Eh, if it were cuter I'd recommend trying to save it longer, but he doesn't really look like he's worth it.
That sounds awful, doesn't it? But unlike humans, stuffed animals most certainly should be judged on outward appearance. :)
Do you remember how upset you were when you lost your favorite towel in the waters of Lake Powell?? Or how Emily still gets upset when anyone mentions that little wooden bendable cow puppet that broke and Mom took to the D.I.??
If it were me, I would put the Crackeroon in a box on a shelf in a closet, high, high up. Or maybe pull out the music box.
!@#$%^&*()<>?:"{}*/.,;'][=-
I shall translate this very loudly if anyone tries to throw the ADORABLE!!!!!!!! Crackeroon away!!!!!
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