Animal Obsession

As I mentioned in my last post, Rowan has a huge heart. This wonderful quality also puts her at risk for falling in love with every stuffed animal she sees, which has been her personal obsession since before she could walk. We couldn't go into a store with animals or she would melt down over some furry thing with eyes. By the time she was 4, she had learned to shield her eyes with her hands any time we got near a display with stuffed animals, to save herself the heartache of being told "no."

Now that Rowan receives a weekly allowance, as well as money she earns from doing chores and taking care of her braces/teeth, she is able to afford a new animal more often than is necessary. We had to purchase a large laundry bin for the corner of her room to house her growing animal population, and they are now spilling over the top. She can't even reach to get into the depths of the thing, which means she has to dump it all out when she 'needs' a particular friend.

And of course there is the state of her bed, which is lined with little rows (the animal hierarchy) of heads tucked into various blankets. Literally half the width of her bed is animals, which means she only gets the outside half.

As my mom always points out, the animals bring her SO much joy, but at some point enough is enough! She is allowed to spend her money on anything she wants, but our new rule is that if she buys an animal, she has to choose one already at home to give away. This has helped maintain the herd in recent weeks!

Having said that, I am a total sucker, and Rowan has learned to work the system.

A friend recently gave me two bags of yarn from her stash, including some knitted Easter eggs that she had made but never gotten around to felting and stuffing. I showed them to Rowan and asked if she could use them for doll pillows or something. She liked the multi-colored egg and said she would keep it.

A few minutes later she came to me and said, "I know exactly what we can do with the egg! We can stuff it and then add 8 pieces of yarn to the bottom to make an octopus!" My knitter brain immediately imagined 8 i-cord legs of the same yarn and a darling octopus. Before the hour was up, I had cast on the first leg, and by bedtime had completed all 8. The next morning, Rowan stuffed the body and I attached the legs, and our wee octopus was born!

And now she has one more animal on her bed. Wait, how did that happen? Sucker!