For months, the number of stuffed animals in my home who are in need of repair has been steadily growing. I’m not sure what’s been going on, but if you are a stuffed animal living here you should be afraid. Be very afraid. You are more than likely going to end up with a big, gaping hole that is in need of repair – but isn’t likely to get repaired for a long, long time.
When I am asked to glue toys, repair stuffed animal rips or change batteries my answer is usually the same, “I will get to that in a little bit. Not now” or even more likely, “Your dad will be home soon, you should ask him.” Sorry babe.
It seems so easy to grab a screwdriver, a needle and thread or some glue. It really doesn’t take that much time, but (much to the dismay of my children) I still put it off or do whatever I can to avoid it all together. Honestly, sometimes this avoidance means the toy or animal ends up in the garbage. GASP. I know.
Woody, Buzz and the gang would run for the hills if they ended up in my house.
This Toy Repair Avoidance that I suffer from has been going on for quite some time and I thought it was all working out just fine. I would put it off and the kids would seem to forget, until the day it happened. The day my daughter’s beloved stuffed bunny Bun Bun suffered a rip in her leg. My daughter was devastated. This is the bunny she has had since she was a baby. She has been sleeping with it for years. It travels with us wherever we go.
She approached me with tears in her eyes and broke the news to me. I think she knew in that moment what happens to stuffed animals who are wounded in our home – NOTHING. She saw the fate of her precious Bun Bun and it wasn’t pretty.
I then knew something had to change. Bun Bun most definitely could not be thrown away and we could not risk her losing stuffing or the rip growing. This was an emergency situation and emergency situations call for emergency responses.
I channelled my inner Doc McStuffins.
What we needed was a Stuffed Animal Outpatient Surgery Center – so that’s what we created.
We set a date for Bun Bun’s surgery. It was over Spring Break so we had a little time on our hands (thankfully) and when that date arrived we held our Grand Opening. The “patients” and parents alike were all eager for this day. They had been waiting for quite some time.
Of course, the parents had forms to fill out. You know, with HIPAA and all. We had to be compliant.
We explained the procedures to the parents and (because we aren’t the most conventional of hospitals) we even let the parents participate in the surgeries. We were short staffed and needed all the help we could get.
Hearts were listened to.
Temperatures were taken.
And many repairs were made. It was a huge success and all of the stuffed animals left with their discharge instructions feeling better than they had in a long, long time.
The Stuffed Animal Outpatient Surgery Center was a huge success. I have a feeling it will be open for business for quite some time. It may have even been the cure for my Toy Repair Avoidance.
In fact, rumor has it, there is a really good chance the Center for Toys in Need of Battery Replacement is going to be opening next door sooner than later.
Jennifer Thompson is a stay-at-home mom of four spunky, sweet, kind and sometimes a bit wild children. She has a passion for the written word and thinks that libraries and bookstores are the coolest places ever. When not hanging out with family or writing, she can be found enjoying a good cup of coffee, running, spending quality time with friends, working on some type of project around the house, planning the family’s next trip to her favorite destination – Walloon Lake, Michigan, or very possibly – reading a book.
Jennifer enjoys writing about her parenting experience and outings with her children for Indy’s Child as a freelance writer and blogger and also keeps a personal blog, www.trulyyoursjen.com, that she has fun writing when time allows.
