New Lease for an Old Friend

Parents are suckers, aren't we? Especially with the first. The way their eyes light up when you hand them something that they clearly want to cuddle in their chubby arms has us opening wallets and swiping cards left right and centre. David just spent weeks searching for a glow in the dark Care Bear for Little on E-bay because we could no longer find them in the shops here. He ended up buying 3, "because you never know!"

My Dad loves telling a story about how I suckered him. There was an aquarium in what is now the industrial estate when I was about 9 months old. Mum and Dad took me and I fell head over heels for a stuffed toy in the gift shop (which brings me to a parenting lesson: Avoid any location that forces you to either enter or exit through a gift shop. Those places are pure evil!!).

Apparently, no matter which way I was turned or what I was shown in the sparkly tanks, my eyes remained glued on the toys. So, much to my babyish delight, I was bought a toy - a stuffed coral polyp.

Dad was responsible for naming our toys and this one was dubbed: "Poly the Polyp" (he's a very witty man!). But life goes on and I was a fickle baby. The toy did not hold my attention forever and I'm pretty sure it was relegated to a Lifeline bin in the end.

When Dad started scanning photos, of course he came across the one above. He told the story again and I decided that it was sad that a toy who was so loved ended up being discarded. So, in memory of my original Poly, I made the new Poly.

The first thing Dad said was, "It's a bit bigger than the original." But in my mind, it's exactly the right size (Isn't it funny that we grow, but the things we remember do not shrink to compensate!). Poly in my memory didn't have feet (maybe they became the victims of rough play?) and I made her flat on the bottom to sit up by herself (for some reason, that's important to me in a toy). As soon as she was finished, Big fell madly in love with her and very gently cradled her. Little, on the other hand, gave her a massive cuddle and then tossed her into the next room.

I hand dyed bamboo fleece to get just the right shade of yellow (it doesn't show up brilliantly on the photo) and embroidered the face by hand. Her fronds are red acrylic felt. I'm not particularly happy with the lumps and bumps, but I got a bit impatient when I was stuffing her!

So now the girls have the chance to play with an old friend of mine, who kept me happy for many an hour!