Geraldine's Blanket

It kind of reminds me of "Owen" by Kevin Henkes, except that here the parents are just jerks about it from the beginning. A little piglet girl named Geraldine has a blanket that she's had since she was a baby. She loves it. She takes it everywhere. As she gets older, it starts fraying and her mother patches it in places. Her father says, "'There's hardly any blanket left.' He was getting cross." Why is he angry about it? It's just stupid. The mother says, "It looks silly." Geraldine says, "Then don't look at me." A reasonable response to that. They try to hide it. She takes it out pins it to her clothes. At Christmas, she gets a doll. She loves it, but says, "I still want my blanket." And the parents both say, "No." So she makes it into a dress for her doll, and the parents are speechless. That's how it ends.

I don't know why these parents are just oblvious to the fact that their child has a sentimental attachment to this object. It's not like adults don't have sentimental attachments to things. Like since it's a "childish" thing, her wants and needs don't matter. It's actually the parents who have the aunt make the doll, the same aunt that made the blanket to begin with. Are they saying that a blanket is too childish, but a doll isn't? Are dolls for bigger kids, and blankets for little ones? This is just dumb.

You need to understand your kids. Or at least try. Kids have feelings too. They are human beings. You may not agree with their feelings, but they still have them, and there's absolutely no reason not to let a child hang onto a blanket as long as they friggin want if it still gives them comfort. It's not hurting anybody. It's not like she's refusing to let them wash it or repair it. It's just so irritating.

While I don't like the way the parents act in this book, I do like the child's solution to it. I guess some parents are like that. I'm not. It's definitely not a good book, but she's got a very creative solution to it that her parents are just bemused by. "Oh well, those kids and their blankets. What are you gonna do?"