Charles Schulz got it right

[TerryJ2]

Today's Peanuts cartoon is so much like so many of our kids. Linus is walking along and Lucy is nagging him, "Don't tell me you took that blanket to school today?"
He says, "Sure, why not? It calms me down and helps me to get better grades." (He's also sucking his thumb.)
"But don't the other kids laugh at you?"
"Nobody laughs at a straight A average!"

The fact that Schulz had his own emotional issues makes it even more on-target and poignant.

 

[Steely]

That makes my heart happy. My sister would walk to school sucking her thumb, "because it calmed her down", and she was a straight A student.

 

[house of cards]

I'd love to send that to the preschool teacher of A. She got her to stop sucking her thumb(at school) by requiring her to wash her hands whenever she saw her do it. Come on, why do these kids have to conform to some unwritten rules somewhere...I'll pay for the braces, let my kid get whatever comfort she can get, it doesn't bother me, she will stop when she doesn't need it.

 

[gcvmom]

Whatever works, right?

These little "habits" are such minor things in the face of everything else our kids deal with. That's what so many people don't understand when they look at them and see this "undesireable" behavior.

difficult child 2 svcks his lower lip and still carries around his crib blanket. difficult child 1 still sleeps with a special stuffed animal or two. easy child still wears pullups at night. Whatever. I've got bigger fish to fry.

 

[Fran]

I hoped my difficult child would have had something like a blankie, thumb or stuffed animal to soothe him. It never happened and I think it was a loss to him.

My favorite scenes that I relate to with difficult child is when I talk to difficult child he hears what adults talking sound like in the animated series. It's a lot of WAWWAW and yakyakyak. He doesn't hear the words.

 

[Nancy423]

My difficult child is 11 and STILL carries her blanket around and ***** her thumb at school when agitated. I've had teachers, nurses etc complain about her sucking her thumb at school because they consider it "germy". Well, I can't do anything about it, no matter how hard we try to explain it to her she continues.

It's making it impossible to stop my 7 yr old from sucking his fingers and carrying around his blankets (yes, plural) He's snuck one blanket to school with- him in his backpack!

 

[TerryJ2]

Well, the fact that it resonates so much with-all of us, and it's in a syndicated cartoon, means that it strikes a chord with-millions. He was onto something. Let the kids have their blankies! Don't adults have cigarrettes and gum and Starbucks and cell phones? in my humble opinion, we've just traded in for more adult versions.

 

[DazedandConfused]

Son still likes to sleep with Max his baby doll. Though, he makes sure that I don't tell anybody. So, he gets that it is unusual for a boy his age. I'm very blase' about it.

I remember having lunch with the friend and her making comments about people doing things as "crutches". Of course, this is while she takes a big drag from her cigarette. No offense to smokers, I was also one at the time. I replied that I was all in favor of healthy and non harmful ways people can help themselves cope with stress or just the ups and downs encountered in life.

I'm all for "crutches".

 

[susiestar]

Boy does that resonate with my house! Jessie still ***** her fingers. AND she has a blankie that must go everywhere she can get away with taking it. She washes her hands as needed. And she has worn out more blankies than I can count. I just get Gma to make another one with the very silky edges when needed.

I have had more people on MY case because the fingers in the mouth and the blankey. But when they can find a way to go through what she has gone through and then give up their comfort items, I will get on her back about htem. Until then, they can go AWAY.

thank you has a blanket that he can't sleep with-out. It is too fluffy to fit in a backpack. When he went to mother's day out it went with him. and came home every day.

Wiz has a small bear. I used to buy nice toys at garage sales to donate tot he Christmas Store here where people with-o much $$ can work so their kids can buy gifts and so they can buy gifts for their kids. I got Little Bear (not from the story, just his name) before I had any idea I was pregnant. In the 2 weeks before I learned I was preggo, we cleaned up the items we had gotten (my mom and I) and boxed them up and delivered them. The first time I came home after the delivery I found Little Bear halfway under the couch. The day I saw the doctor and found out I was preggo, I made a second delivery. And that bear was IN THAT BOX. When I came home from the ultrasound, rather in shock, no one was home and that bear was sitting on the couch.

And out of ALL the toys and blankies Wiz had, it was THAT BEAR that he still has, that has gone on more "adventures" and been so very loved, just like Wiz has been.

But both my mom and I saw that bear in the box of toys, BOTH times. He was meant to be, just like Wiz was.

Charles Schultz was right on so many things.

 

[amazeofgrace]

I am a major Snoopy fan, LOL, he's such a happy beagle!

difficult child II has a snoopy tree in his room!

 

[tiredmommy]

One of the most endearing things about my husband is that he had saved a small piece of material from his childhood blankie. He carried it in his wallet from high school until a few years after college when it finally just disintegrated.