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.
