I’ve had my blankie since I was born.

I was brought home from the hospital with it.

I’ve slept with it every night minus the months I’ve gone traveling for extensive periods of time. And it never went away with me for a weekend or a week long trip (minus college where in some cases I had to take it with me to be protected from my roommates-you know who you are – Heather and Alison- who found it funny to “torture” blankie by hanging it outside and other bizarre things!).

But generally speaking, I’ve slept with it every night of my life.

It’s comforted me on the worst days of my life and relaxed me on the longest days. And all the days in between it just made me feel “good.”

Well blankie is gone. Vanished. Lost on our trip to San Diego…I’m heart broken. I’ve called every hotel we stayed. Justin’s Mom has searched her guest room countless times. I’m actually impressed at how understanding and thoughtful some of the hotels have been…even when I tell them, well, actually “it doesn’t really look like a blankie…it’s just some shreds of material…”

It’s been like losing someone close to you. I feel lost. I’m embarrassed to admit this but it is true.

My blankie held a ton of sentimental value to me. It wasn’t much more than a piece of tied together string (what was left of both my blankie and my mother’s blankie’s soft edges–I “inherited” my mother’s when she passed away five years ago–more on the shreds later)- Or better said by my good friend Katina when we were living together one college summer and it went missing after a big party…and I quote, “oh that, I thought it was something the cats drug in and threw it away.” Several hours later and after much digging in the apartment complex dumpster and trashbags, blankie was found and given a very good bath.

Blankie, to my knowledge only went missing one other time. It was several months after Justin and I had been dating. He used to think it was funny and would throw it around my room playing games at seeing what he could hit with it…ummm, not so understanding of my attachment. It went missing one day and I blamed him for months. It finally turned up when I moved out of my place. It had been wedged between my bed frame and the wall.

Now that it’s gone and after having to describe it to countless hotel staff, it got me thinking, why was blankie in shreds? Why was it merely a bunch of tied together edge pieces? What happened to the rest of it? Now that I’m a mother with a daughter who has a blankie and a “blankie attached little boy in training” I think I know why…my mother must have cut the blankie up so that if it went missing she had a spare bit to give me (I vividly remember stories being told of when I was 2 or so and had to have my tonsils removed and she got all the way to my grandmother’s to drop my brother off to be watched and then had to go all the way back home (45 mins) to get my blannkie). So eventually all the pieces must have gotten so worn out that she had to tie them together. I’m not sure about this theory but I’m guessing it’s a pretty good one.

So what does all this have to do with a blog about traveling with children? A lot.

You see when you travel (child or not) part of the excitement (or not) is being in an unknown place with unfamiliar tastes, sounds, sites, smells, etc. For an adult this can be very exhilarating (or unnerving for those who don’t like change or different things). For a 2 year old it can be quite disturbing. Bring a child’s blankie (or any “lovey” for that matter) along and that sense of comfort of home and familiarity is maintained. While we don’t let the children take their blankies out on everyday adventures (for fear of losing them), they are always with us on overnight trips anywhere.

Travel tip: if your child has a blankie or a lovey, don’t leave home without it if you are traveling. And I guess if you think it might get lost have a spare just in case. Or cut up the blankie into pieces so there’s several spares…

I’m fearful that blankie is in a landfill somewhere in California but hoping that maybe blankie will still turn up.

But for now R.I.P. BLANKIE, you will be missed…

Adjusting to the time change and different beds/houses/hotels was a little more difficult for Stella than it had been in the past.  Partly I’m sure due to the major life change/upheaval of selling our house and moving out and partly because we had a few days of a change in routine.  Now that she is two routine seems to be the most important component to having a happy child and of course as we have seen in the past, sleep is key – both of which, the first few days of our trip lacked.

We spent the first two nights at my good friend Katina’s new house in Ashburn.  Stella got to play with her daughter Bailey and her TONs of toys, Stella keeps asking to go back to Bailey’s house.  We then headed up to Penn State for a weekend of football and catching up with some old friends.  Unfortunately Penn State lost their football game but it was still a nice weekend.

Now that things have settled down a bit and we have begun to relax here in State College for the week we all seem a bit happier. It’s the first time since August I think that I’ve “slowed down.”

We’ve had time to enjoy each other as a family and take a little time for ourselves. Stella seems to be conquering potty training this week (could it be we have more time to focus on it?) and we are all catching up on our sleep.

I always say travel helps you stop and think and just enjoy the now. I continue to be reminded of this every time we go on an adventure.

I do have to admit though in the midst of another terrible two tantrum with Stella that I had doubts about what we are doing. Part of me worries that are we doing something wrong not having a “home” and just living a normal day to day life right now for our children. But given our personalities (mine and Justin’s that is), that would just be boring. So we must take a little of the bad with all the good. And hope that all this exposure to different sites, smells, cultures, accents, experiences, etc. will only build smarter and more adaptable children.

Speaking of exposure…as you could imagine all this H1N1 stuff has me a bit worried with travel. We chose NOT to be vaccinated. Justin and I never get the flu shot and felt that perhaps all this is being blown out of proportion with the media. Only time will tell. I continue to be diligent with everyone (including Justin) about washing our hands and have now purchased liquid sanitizer, antibacterial hand wipes and Clorox wipes to wipe everything down (strollers, toys, tables, chairs, ourselves…) periodically. I’m sure we will get a cold or something by the end of this month but right now we are focusing on staying healthy: eating healthy, getting plenty of sleep, exercising and washing our hands.

We are here at Penn State through next weekend for another Nittany Lion game day. Hopefully they will have a victory next weekend. On Sunday we are back to DC to visit with some friends and then head to my Dad’s on Monday for 2 weeks and to celebrate Thanksgiving.

I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of my extended family and catching up with some friends.