"Precious"

Inspect every piece of pseudoscience and you will find a security blanket, a thumb to suck, a skirt to hold. What does the scientist have to offer in exchange? Uncertainty! Insecurity! — Isaac Asimov

Friday evening my friend and her children came to visit.  Her oldest daughter saw the little pink doll blanket mentioned in the previous post and said she "That would be perfect for Precious".  When #2 and her went upstairs to #2's room, I asked who Precious was and her mom told me it was her baby doll that had been bought as a Christmas present for her before she was born.  She sleeps with her every night and hides her under her pillow so other people won't know.

We were invited to this girls 12th birthday party on Saturday.  In some ways she is trying to turn 16+.  She wants to wear makeup all the time.  Every penny she gets she uses to buy stick on french manicure nails.  She wants to be able to go on the computer whenever and with whomever she choses.  She wants clothes, jewlery and toys and which are too old for her. She wants to be able to go to her friends whenever and have friends over all the time. 

In her defense she was daddy's little girl and grandpa's baby.  She had been Grandma's baby but Grandma was moved to a nursing home with alzheimers and didn't remember her.  Four years ago her mom and dad got a divorce and she hasn't seen her dad in over three years. Since the divorce her grandfather died, her grandmother died and her only aunt commited suicide.  So the past few years have been rough on her and in a rush to put it all behind her she is trying to race into adulthood.  She goes to counseling through her school but the counselor has been changed five times already!

To find out she had a "softer" side, a side where she relaxed, let down her guard and allowed herself to be the child she is, was amazing to me.  So after she left Friday evening, I started to knit her "Precious" a dress

and a blanket. 

I ended up switching to crochet as I can do that faster.  I got them done just in time for the party.  I stuffed them in a bag and off we went. 

She had friends over so I told her to take the bag to her room and open it.  She ran up the stairs while her friends were occupied and opened the bag.  She came downstairs, pulled her mother aside and with tears in her eyes showed her mother what I had made.  Before I left Precious was dressed and wrapped in the blanket.  I need to make another dress...Precious is closer to being a Flat Stanley from years of hiding under the pillow so the flatness makes the dress slightly big on her.  I have promised her another outifit.

A little leftover yarn meant more than the money in the card.  It allowed me to see a side of her that she doesn't share with the rest of the world.  Precious keeps her tied to a happier past and knitting/crocheting does the same for me.  It reminded me of all the Christmases where we would put our naked dolls under the tree and wake to find them dressed in new outfits.  I think we all have and need some little "Precious" something that brings us comfort and soothes our soul.