My Blanket

As a child, I was never really the kind to hold onto one item like a blanket or a pacifier. Sure, I had stuffed animals, but there wasn’t really anything that I couldn’t live without. I remember that my cousin K had this yellow blanket that she would NEVER let go of. I’m talking years and years of addiction here. She wouldn’t sleep without it. She would not go in the car without it. She would scream bloody murder if you took it away from her. Eventually her parents got her out of the habit, but it took many years and a lot of patience. To this day, however, she still has that ratty yellow blanket in her possession. I never had anything like that as a child.

Lately, though, I have become addicted to my Hello Kitty blanket. G and I bought it one day when we were at Target. I think it was $20 or something, and I remember debating over whether or not to buy it. But it was so fuzzy and pink… and I have never regretted spending that $20. Usually, the blanket lives in my computer chair where I either sit on it or wrap it around myself. If I go downstairs to watch TV, though, the blanket goes with me almost always. Sometimes, if I’m not feeling great, the blanket will accompany me into the bedroom where it will comfort me while I sleep.

It is the softest blanket I have ever owned and I adore it. Is it silly for a woman my age to be addicted to a soft blanket? Not to mention all of the other Hello Kitty items I have in our house right now? Some people might think it is silly or immature, and maybe it is. But I say that if you can find happiness and joy in something in this day and age you should embrace it no matter what anyone else thinks. Hello Kitty makes me smile and I don’t see anything immature about that. I always loved Hello Kitty when I was a little girl, and even though I’m in my 30’s, I still love her. I don’t think I’m alone in this either. Even Mariah Carey has a room dedicated to her Hello Kitty addiction.

If something ever happens to my Hello Kitty blanket, I doubt I would scream bloody murder the way K did when we were six years old, but I know I would be sad. It’s a comfort to me to wrap the soft pinkness of it around me when I’m sitting down and writing or playing video games. I guess someday it will get stained or frayed and I will have to let it go, but for now, I love it.