Webkinz 911

Two things have happened in the past two days regarding Lukas and his Webkinz.  He has two of them now.  Jack, his first and favored, is a dalmation.  Icy is the new polar bear that was in his Christmas stocking.  He loves them both, but Jack has been the favored stuffed animal since he got here in September.  He loves playing on-line with Jack, always making sure that Jack is seated where he can see the screen, and he has slept with him every night.  He also takes him with him nearly everywhere he goes, though our rule is that he has to stay in the car.  When your child is this attached to something, you don't want to risk losing it, so you leave it in the car.

The first thing that happened regarding Jack happened on New Year's Eve.  We were sleeping in my sister's living room, and Lukas decided that he was not close enough to where we were.  We helped him move his sleeping bag so that he was snuggled between our air mattress and a row of baby toys (which he bumped around 5 in the morning waking us up).  That is when I realized that he didn't have blankie.  Lukas became attached to blankie totally on his own as a baby, which was funny because when my dad bought it for him when he was a month old, he announced that it would be his security blanket.  Sure enough, that was the blanket Lukas chose as his security blanket.

Blankie has travelled with us everywhere from Canada to Florida in the past 6 years, but he wasn't with us on this trip.  Lukas didn't pack him, and he didn't miss him either.  I know that some of you think I'm crazy for referring to a blanket as a "he," but Lukas determined years ago that blankie was indeed a he. 

So anyway, back to the story...As I was trying to fall asleep on New Year's Eve, I had tears in my eyes realizing that we had possibly moved past a new milestone.  I will say that blankie still remains in his bed here at home, and he even journied down the stairs this morning, but it is the first time I've seen blankie in a few weeks.  Watching your kids grow up is fulfilling, but when you realize that they are losing some of those little things that make their early years so precious, it can be difficult to work through the different feelings that battle for a mommy's heart.  Of course I am proud of him, but with every step he takes toward adulthood, it feels like a part of him is gone forever.

Now, on to a second story involving Jack, but this one reminds me that Lukas is still a little boy in so many ways.  Jack wore a red Webkinz hoody for a few days this past week.  Ava received clothes for her Webkinz, and she graciously allowed her brother to borrow them.  Unfortunately, when he removed the hoody, Jack had turned pink.  No, the clothes were not wet.  The hoody was obviously poorly made with cheap red dye.  Lukas panicked when he discovered this yesterday morning, and he kept bringing it up all day.  By bedtime last night, he was sobbing because "The best pet in the whole wide world" was ruined(he was also exhausted from staying up later than ever the night before).  A pink dalmation is not a 6 year old boy's dream pet.  Can you imagine?  He sobbed loudly, very, very loudly, in his bed for 45 minutes last night before finally drifting off to sleep.  He loves Jack, and he wants him to be white again.

I have e-mailed Ganz to let them know about the problem, and I'm going to go ahead and try to wash Jack in the gentle cycle even though it says surface wash only.  If Ganz doesn't respond, which will honestly make me angry, and the washing machine is too much for Jack, I guess I can always go on the hunt for a new dalmation.  That would totally stink for Lukas though.  If this was his fault, then I would use it as a lesson, but it isn't, and I want it to be taken care of.  Poor guy.  Poor Jack.    Isn't it crazy the things we do for our kids sometimes?  Hopefully, Ganz backs up the quality of their product.  Until I hear from them, I'll follow through with plan B and let you  know what happens!

Happy 2008 everyone!