Thursday, February 12, 2009

the one where i'm looking for a chinese translator

You are going to think I'm absolutely crazy UNLESS you:

a.) Are the mother of a toddler

b.) Have witnessed, firsthand, the love of a toddler and his or her woobie/lovey/security object du jour

c.) Have been a child who had a woobie/lovey/security object du jour


So then you know where this is going, right? Alice has found her woobie. It's a very adorable Winnie the Pooh blanket that was a gift from The Wife. Alice has been sleeping with Blankie for about 4 months now--- for a while I was able to interchange the actual Blankie blankie for any blankie when the original, accept-no-substitutes Blanket was being washed. However. We have reached a New Level of Love for Blankie 'round these parts, and she's starting to reject other blankies in favor of ONLY Blankie. She has also started to fish it out of her crib in her waking hours and drag it around the house with her, a la Linus.

Don't get me wrong. I love that she loves Blankie. I do. I had TWO security blankets when I was little and they were torn to shreds by our dog and I still loved them without end. I think it's healthy for her to have a lovey. I even think it's cute. What isn't cute is the thought of her dragging around a nasty grime and snot-ridden square of fabric until it disintigrates. And then we face the crying and wailing and gnashing of teeth because (and here's the problem) Blankie is THE ONLY ONE LEFT OF HIS KIND.

The Wife purchased the blanket at Target, in late 2007, when I was still pregnant with Bean. Target no longer sells this particular blanket. I know, because I have checked. A lot. No one sells this particular blanket. No one on the planet sells this particular blanket.

No one, except this person on EBay.

My problem, as you can plainly see, is that this person, perhaps my only HOPE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, appears to live in Asia. Perhaps Hong Kong. And the EBay page is, most helpfully, written almost ENTIRELY IN CHINESE. Or some amalgem thereof.

I would like to purchase this blanket - and the rest of the loot if that's what it takes - for Alice, as a back-up woobie. But (and here's where you come in) I can't read the page. I can't even tell if the darn blanket is still for sale. Am stupid in All Things EBay, but am willing to put aside my stupidity for the Mental Well Being, Blanket Health, and General All Around Goodness of the Whimsy Household.

Anyone out there willing to translate the page for me? Tell me what the heck I'm looking at? Tell me if I'm out of my gourd for even attempting this? OR maybe you happen to HAVE this particular blanket somewhere in the deep recesses of your closet and you'd like to donate it to Alice's cause? Am willing to spend actual U.S. dollars in this endeavor.




Edited to add: After I published this post and check my EBay link, the link had INEXPLICABLY AND MIRACULOUSLY TRANSLATED ITSELF INTO ENGLISH. Dude. I don't even know HOW that happened. But it did. And now I'm not only left looking stupid, but also disappointed because the auction has ENDED. And I am without a secondary replacement woobie. Ugh. If anyone has any suggestions, yeah, let me know.

Thnx.

8 comments:

serenity now said...

My "help" may be no help at all. My daughter's doll is one-of-a-kind, too, for reasons similar to what you say about Alice's Blankie. And since I've never found a replacement, she just has to deal when Dollie gets a bath in the washing machine. Maybe I'm mean, but I tell myself it's helping her to develop patience. I guess she'll learn to deal with heartbreak if Dollie gets lost, destroyed or otherwise completely unavailable. For what it's worth . . .

M said...

I have no suggestions, but maybe some consolation.

I was one of those Linus kids who carried my blanket where er'e I went and I can tell you that it's really not about looks, here. It's about SMELL. My mom would attempt to slip me a substitute blanket so that she might upon occasion launder THE blanket and by all appearances they were duplicated but my beloved blanket had a certain fragrance, a je ne sais quoi that could not be replicated and I could SMELL it.

I was wily for a child, no?

Anyway. I'm betting that Alice is smart enough to tell the difference between the real blanket an the FAKE impostor blanket so just accept it for what it is and then when the blanket is in deplorable states of cleanliness sneak it out of her crib while she's asleep and wash it on the fast cycle in the machine.

Incidentally, the Boy has a favorite blanket too. Is it one of the blankets that I made for him with my own two hands? No. Is it the beautiful blanket that my sister made for him with his name embroidered around the edges and then finished with a crocheted hem? No. Have I tried tried TRIED to get him attached to one of these blankets? YES. And I failed miserably. Who knows what kids will like---but from one blanket girl to another, I'm glad she liked the Pooh blanket.

Unknown said...

My aunt bought at least THREE of my cousin's blanket. Thinking ahead? No. He ended up adopting and loving all three simultaneously. Loved them to shreds. Eventually she tied them together (the blankets, not the kid) into ONE giant lump.

BTW, I was shocked to discover that I could read Chinese fluently! Wait.. Oh darn...

Cherish said...

My nephew fell in love with his dad's robe. He actually had two of them and he would sleep with them and then drag them around the house/car/wherever. The my SIL got the idea to cut them up into small squares, big enough for him to rub on his face or stroke but not too big that they would get in the way. Alice's blankie looks a little small for that but maybe you could turn it into two?

Bird said...

I only had one blanky lovey and I had to deal when it got washed or a hole. Somehow I managed. What did scar me for life though was when my mom told me that blanky was "gone" and I was going to have live life without blanky. A few days later, while playing in my mom's closet I saw blanky folded up nicely on the shelf and the cold realization that my mom lied to me was horrific. I climbed up, resuced blanky, and my mom dropped the issue. Alice will be fine- just don't hide the blanky.

Whimsy said...

I hear you on her dealing with the trauma while Blankie is being washed. I just live in FEAR of Blankie getting lost. I'd like to have a back-up for that purpose...

Though it's on the small side, if I don't find a second one soon, I'm going to cut it in half - thanks to Cherish for the idea!

Anonymous said...

I think we may have the blankie in question. Can you get a better picture of it? You are welcome to have ours if it's a match.
My kid has lovies of a particular kind, but not one in particular. I have 6 of them (all different animals) so there is never a crisis where we have to be without one. http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Dear-Blankie-Brown-Giraffe/dp/B000WFPWUQ/ref=pd_sim_ba_3

emily said...

i need a picture ... because i put "winnie the pooh blanket" into target.com and it gave me a TON of them ... but which one is the right one?? http://www.target.com/gp/search/177-5860685-0715622?field-keywords=Winnie+the+Pooh+blanket+&url=index%3Dtarget&ref=sr_bx_1_1
if i had a picture of the beloved blankie maybe we could send out a BOLO to all the local shoppers! i'd keep my eyes peeled for ya!