Children often become attached to stuffed animals, or (for many girls) a doll that they treat as one of their own, or as their best friend. It fills a gap of a need created by unfulfilled relationship (or portion of the relationship), and it provides some sense of companionship. Even imaginary friends are created by children to fill this role of companionship (I was a lonely child growing up: I had two imaginary friends, but they would only play with each other).
Okay, I’m rambling now, so I’ll get to the point. What I learned about why we like stuffed animals is that they are a friend that gives us their undivided attention: they listen to us.
Why am I sharing this?
Not only do I sleep with a stuffed lion, in my car is a little stuffed lamb named Lizzy, to whom I talk often. (Yes, I will leave the comments section open for ridicule and teasing.)
I was going away on a retreat with people from work, and even though I had my own room, I decided it would be the “grown up” thing to do and leave Lucy (that’s her name) behind. Parting with her, since I’ve grown accustomed to having her with me in bed every evening, was somewhat emotionally challenging (Shiree, you’re not allowed to post comments about this!). Since I’m a man (I don’t like that word, but Shiree insists I refer to myself this way), I realized I had some sort of attachment disorder to Lucy. And even though Lizzy came along since she lives in my car anyway, I didn’t like the prospect of leaving Lucy.
In the car, on my 82-mile commute from Lancaster to the Philadelphia suburbs, Lizzy listens to me (and yes, I actually talk out loud sometimes). She is a faithful little lamb, and is always there.
We value the friends who listen to us. We all long for friends who truly value and care for us. Stuffed animals can offer the first part of this, but not the second. Lizzy is also in a small way a reminder and symbol of the companionship shared between Shiree and me, because Lizzy was a gift when Shiree and I were just friends.
I’m not crazy. As a counselor, Shiree does play therapy with children, and they often open up more quickly with a puppet or toy than they do with an adult, no matter how much they trust the therapist. My confiding in and trusting my stuffed animals illustrates the point well–we will trust the most those who listen to us and show us faithful care.
