Endless Teddy Bears (heads?)

Brandon took a big, white, Teddy Bear off of his brother's bed when he was about 6 years old. Up until then he never played with any kind of stuffed animals. He just wasn't interested. But he took this bear, and kissed it on the nose, and then carried it around his neck, I think to help muffle the loud noises that he dislikes so much. He took bear everywhere, to school, the store, on vacation, and he slept with him every night. He would not leave the house without Bear.

Brandon wearing his bear before he finished tearing it to pieces.

 By the time he was in high school, Bear had began to get threadbare, and I was afraid to wash him because he might fall apart in the washer.  I mended him the best I could, but soon he just had too many holes. Now,Brandon does not like holes in fabric. If he sees one in his sock or shirt, that piece of clothing is soon ripped to shreds.Soon poor Bear was torn into pieces. Everything but his head was tiny shreds of fur. But Brandon was lost without Bear, so he got a new Bear for his birthday. He kissed him, and carried him with him. The only thing was, this wasn't Bear. Two weeks later, I found a bear paw on the living room floor. I saw more fur leading down the hall into Brandon's room. Poor new bear, only his head was left.


 Brandon's aunt brought over a panda bear one day. Brandon grabbed it and kissed him. 10 days later, black and white fur everywhere. sigh. Brandon wants a bear, but it is never the right one. We save the bear heads. I don't know why. Knowing how much Brandon loves teddy bears, for a minute anyway, I  keep bringing home more, or people give him them. I just love the way he kisses them and.......

Two bear heads warning other Teddy Bears not to enter.....

Endless Barney

Well, January is finally over. One month closer to spring! Brandon has been busy this last week. He has this green plastic box filled with 50 or 60 small Barney figurines. He has had them for years. He used to pick out one specific Barney, first it was this one

then for many years it was this one, and take it everywhere. It had a special place in his backpack, and he would not leave the house without it. If it mistakenly got left at school, we had to go back and get it, or he could not function. One terrible weekend it was left in his cubby at school, and his trauma was so bad he had melt down after melt down, couldn't eat, and cried for hours.

Sometimes he would lose it for good, like in the sand under the play area at school, so I started buying as many of them as I could find. Brandon's elementary teacher found a bunch at the dollar store, so we stocked up.

A few months ago, Brandon made a small hole in the drywall in his closet, up by the closet rod. He slowly started dropping his Barneys down the hole. Once he spent a long time trying to get one of the bigger Barneys in the hole, working at it until he succeeded. Everyday he would drop another one, until there was only his favorite one left. Then one day it too was gone. We called this the Barney graveyard. He seemed fine without Barney, and went to school without a care in the world. Three months passed, and we thought, oh, he finally outgrew Barney. Then one night last week, I heard banging in his room. Brandon was in his closet trying to tear out the drywall. He brought me a pair of scissors and a hammer. My son Aaron helped me to make a hole at the bottom of the closet, and wow! the Barney graveyard was opened! Brandon pulled out all the Barneys and put them back in the green box. Now everyday, he brings one to school again, but this time, he chooses different ones each time.