Perhaps it's time to have the talk

My daughter has been on this earth for 7 1/2 years. During this brief stay on the planet she has accumulated 95 stuffed animals. I know this because I made her count them today. Some of them reside on a shelf. Some in a basket. Some on the floor. Some on her bed. All of them have a name. They are given a name immediately after ownership is taken and the name never, ever changes. (This will be of importance later on)

The first in the collection was Lammy:
She has been with us the longest and was actually a baby shower gift who resided in Ocho's crib. When she came here she was spotless white. Now, she is the perfect example of what being tainted by a sinful world looks like.

Next in line is Tinky Winky:
He was also a shower gift and received his name once Ocho was old enough to talk in recognizable syllables. Of course, this was during her embarrassing Teletubbies phase, for which she is now deeply ashamed. She refused to change his name, however. That's just not the way she rolls.

All of her animals are divided into their own little families. Some according to origin, not unlike the dictator of a small country, and some are more obviously classified than others. There's the Build-A-Bear family which includes Callie, Rachael, Caroline, Kitty & her daughter Hello. There's the Ocean family that includes a sea lion named Dolphin and a dolphin named Daphne. Some are segregated according to size. The "babies"(including Ella the elephant and Spots the Dognation) live in the basket and the "giants" (Big Bear and Bear Mountain respectively) stand guard close to her bed. The most prominent placement goes to the elite: The Teddy Bear family. This is where you will find the likes of Sophie, Richard, Bumble Bee, Chrissy, Jingle, Gracie, Snowflake and the more logically named Graduation Bear, Christmas Bear and Beary.
Then, of course we have the new kids on the block, The Webkinz family. I'm convinced that these little critters are nothing more than crack for kids but what can I say? We're enablers. Here we have Moose, Frankie, Brownie, Lola, Freddie, Polka Dots, Piggly and Alex. They're kind of snobbish if you ask me. They never play with any of the others. I hate cliques.

And then there's the king of the jungle, the cream of the crop, the one, the only. Teddy. He's been with us since she was two and there was never any doubt. He was THE ONE. He is her sleepmate, playmate, soulmate. And he will be with us til the end. Amen.

Ocho actually said to me today "Mommy, I'd really like to start collecting something. The Disney Channel says it's important!" That's when I made her count them. And let me also state for the record that the count would have been much higher but last year she gave her stuffed Nemo to her friend Micah and contributed her Care Bears to some sick kids for Rebekah's Rainbow.

In closing I would like to tell you the real reason for this post. I'm in a dilemma. See, we have always let her pick the names and have tried never to influence her thus suffocating her creative nature. But there are 2 names I've not mentioned yet. She has a dog named "Hussy" and a Turtle named "Turdy". Eventually, I'm thinking we're going to need to intervene.