<p>A friend from some volunteer work I was doing made a little stuffed stegosaurus for D1 when she was born. It has gone everywhere… college, to Europe last summer, and now to her intership. She puts it in her carryone when she flies, as she could not bear to lose him. Once we left him in a hotel in Nebraska. Fortunately her grandparents were driving the same route the next day, and they picked him up and mailed him to her. D2 collects a specific kind of stuffed bird (has over 50 of 'em). I am sure the favorite (which is also her pillow) will be going with her to college.</p>
<p>My daughter was very attached to a stuffed Baby Bop when she was little. Once, she was with my wife in some stores, and at one point, my wife noticed: no Baby Bop. She remembered her playing with it in one of the stores, and went back to the store and got it. When they arrived, home, there was Baby Bop. So she had to return the pilfered toy to the store (this was a clothing store where they had a few old toys to divert children, not a toy store). This is now known as the time Mommy stole Baby Bop.</p>
<p>Our kiddos used to have tea parties for the stuffed animals. They would have them arranged around a rubbermaid container covered with a receiving blanket and “serve” them all. When we went on trips, they’d bring a few select stuffed animals & flannel receiving blankets (up through their early teen years) & would chatter away in the backseat with them. It made for harmonious trips but they sure missed viewing a lot of scenery. :)</p>
<p>No animals went to college, nor receiving blankets. S just pitched most of them, with D’s consent, over Christmas break–the kids are now 21 & 23!</p>
<p>We once took her “bunbun” with us to Florida to Disney. She lost it somewhere in the Magic Kingdom! During our frantic backtracking we came upon “bunbun” displayed prominently at a vendor’s cart. Someone found him/her (bun bun’s gender continues to be a debate for over 20 years) and recognized it as a childs beloved toy and wanted it returned. After that close call bunbun remained at home on trips.</p>
<p>DD has her two favorite stuffed animals tucked under covers and in a faraway corner of her bed, away from roommates’ eyes. They’re not center stage. But they’re there.</p>
<p>Awwww, and sniff sniff…</p>
<p>My DS had a winnie-the-pooh stuffy. It went everywhere! When he was … little, still in the backpack on dad’s back stage, we went to Boston and he fell asleep and dropped WP. Dreadful when he woke up. We retraced our steps and some blessed person had put WP up on a fence post by the path through the park. Whew.</p>
<p>Next big scare was DS about 5, sitting in the back seat after going to Disneyland. WP was “enjoying” having his head out the window… and got dropped on the I-5. I was driving and H made me turn around. Then H dashed across 8 lanes of traffic and got the little bear, who, fortunately rolled onto the shoulder and didn’t get hit (both the bear and the H!!).</p>
<p>WP went to BoyScout camp every year (discretely packed in later years).</p>
<p>When DS cleaned his room and made his bed right before leaving for college this fall, WP was placed carefully on the pillow. awww</p>
<p>I especially loved the stories of the boys with stuffed animals and blankets that still mean something to them. My own DD no longer has sentimental attachment to her blanket or to the various stuffed animals that at one time or another were meaningful. I have put them carefully away anyway.</p>
<p>I loved stuffed animals as a child, and I took a couple of them to college.</p>
<p>Yea, our kids have saved a select few out of the literally hundreds they had. It was a bittersweet seeing them finally give them up. They never got attached to a specific ONE item or another, but still have a fondness for flannel (I think due to their affection for the flannel receiving blankets).</p>
<p>While my kids outgrew their lovies (but still have them) another stuffed animal was part of our familly when the kids were in high school. S won it at a fair at a time when D was away at camp and it became a running joke that the very cute stuffed pit bull had taken over. It had its TV preferences, place on the couch, rightful place as the favorite… S and I were really into it and as soon as D came home she was revulted. When we tried to include the pit bull, it would mysteriously disappear - being thrown out the window on numerous occasions. But the joke and the battles went on, and honestly it seemed like the pit bull was just part of the family dynamics. They were some tough times with D, not getting along with any of us, but fortunately I think the pit bull got the worst of it.</p>
<p>Things had calmed down by the time I took her to college and I snuck the pit bull down and placed him in her bed when she wasnt looking. S was horrified that I had done that, thinking it would be embarassing for her, but D loved it. By that time, we were pretty close, and I dont think any other object could represent her brother and me as well. She kept it on her bed for the year. I thought of sending it along to my S, who is at school now, but I don’t think he could deal with it.</p>
<p>Carry-on. Not carrion. :eek: Carry-on. When my kid was preparing herself for a particularly anxious flight as a toddler, we gave her a stuffed giraffe. A very huggable giraffe according to the kid. We told her that she didn’t have to pack it. That it would be “carry on”. And so he is to this day. ;)</p>
<p>My niece gave DD a White Gund bear when she was born. It was always in her bed, she would go to sleep hugging it. As the years went by we teased her by calling White Bear, Gray Bear. When it was time to pack up for the long trip to college I asked if she was going to bring White Bear and in her most indigenous voice told me it was a silly question.
When I picked her up from the airport for Christmas break I was quite surprised to see White Bear sticking out of her back pack. Not only did he come home with her, she didn’t feel the slight bit embarrassed to show the world she still has a favorite bear.</p>
<p>Stuffed elephants. Many of them. Guess where the owner of said stuffed elephants now attends college?</p>
<p>Yup. :)</p>
<p>It seems like yesterday that I was standing in line at ToysRUs with a cartful of diapers and saw the clearance table of Pound Puppies. I thought that they were cute, and I bought one for my D, who was almost 2 at the time. Little did I know how integral Cookie would become to our whole family. He has gone everywhere–DisneyWorld, Paris, every college visit–he’s our roaming gnome, and he ALWAYS goes through the airport xray–he thinks it’s an amusement park ride. Over the years we have created an entire mythic life for him. My daughter did not take him to college with her since he (and we) reminded her that he had not passed the requirements for kindergarten yet. She graduated last year and is having a tough time finding a teaching position. If she finds one and get settled, I MAY let him go. What a sickie I am!</p>