Sunday, June 19, 2016

Cuddles

Today

I've just returned home from visiting Becky and family at their new home in Spain. We bought Carmen some toys for the garden and Paul bought her an enormous cuddly puppy, that's almost as big as she is. She loves it and drags it everywhere. She also has with her a newly purchased cuddly cat, a range of "unicats", a beloved monkey and a tiny white teddy. 

Carmen  loves her cuddly toys and allegiances change often. At Spencer House she has about eight cuddly toys and the rest of her collection is in store and totals probably about another twenty or more.

In My Day

As a child I had few toys. It was the '50's after all and money was generally tight. I remember a rag doll, named Judy, that spent a fair bit of her life on top of the (defunct) service lift shaft where Chris used to throw it and a walkie-talkie doll called Alice. I did rather love her and spent pocket money on dresses for her.

Cuddly she was not. I had no cuddly toys at all, not even a teddy bear; something that I secretly resented. There was Pooh Bear being read to us on practically a daily basis; what about me? I don't think I ever mentioned this to my parents; I was generally secretive and anyway might not have thought of it in those terms.

I met my nemesis at Christmas 1959. Beatrice was given a cuddly panda. I was so envious. How I wanted that panda! As I was nearly twelve, it was beneath my dignity actually to to express this need.

Instead I started a sneer campaign; telling Beatrice that having a cuddly toy was childish and calling her a baby and other rude epithets. I think I hoped that this would cause her to reject it so that I could mount a rescue mission and adopt it. No such luck. Beatrice loved her panda and very wisely ignored my nastiness. I believe she later gave it to one of her charges while she was training to be a nursery nurse.

Many years later I told Paul this story and about twenty years ago, he and Becky went out and found me the loveliest little teddy, just right to cuddle. I call it "Panda".

2 comments:

Christine Greenway said...

I can empathize Julia, no we simply did not have the army of cuddlies that our grandchildren have today. As one of three girls we each had one or two cuddly toys and a (china or some such breakable material)doll which had to be sent to the dolls' hospital for repair/refurbishment on occasions. We were however fortunate that our Grandpa was a very talented carpenter who made us a lovely dolls' house, carpeted and complete with barley twist chimneys.
On reflection though,it might be us grandparents/ aunts and uncles,that bear some responsibility for buying said cuddlies in the first place, maybe making up for the above??

Wohan Raja Obat said...
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