Stuffed toys

And for years I slept with a huge bear in my bed. He was called Noel, because he was multi-coloured.

I don't have any now.

I now have a Gromit.

You, howver, have no potential disadvantage: you are all friends and none of you have heard it before. Little bear went missing. I threw him out of the push chair while it was parked outside the greengrocers while my Mum was shopping. It is a measure of societal change since 1971-2 that British mothers were not considered irresponsible if they left their kids in pushchairs outside shops unattended in the early seventies.

Anyway, mother and I were distrught when we got home to find that Little Bear had gone. She cast the event from her mind tho, you can be sure that I didn't! Weeks, possibly months later my mother was relating the story of his disappearance to the greengrocer, telling her how upset I was that the bear had gone. The greengrocer said "There he is!" The bear had been picked up by someone and taken into the shop, where he had sat unnoticed by my mother for weeks, nestling between the cabbage and the broccoli.

I have various other stuffed beings who I currently love too, what my bf has given me. The floppy plush xmas dog from Target I do like.

I had an Oscar the Grouch from sesame st too, but he's disappeared :(

now, looking back, I think the other animals I had were those little china ones rather than stuffed ones. What was that range called Ward or Warne or something? I remember I had a corgi with a chipped ear.

before going on holiday with my parents I would always act out the process of going on holiday with the animals, we'd pack a suitcase, get a taxi to the railway station, get on the train ect ect. I would stay up half the night doing all this when I should have been sleeping.

I had a fearsome collection of trolls. They're popular again now, aren't they? I'm sure I've seen them in the shops again. I should have kept all mine.

It is funny how normal it was for people to leave their children in prams or buggies outside shops when we were little, just like it was fine for complete strangers to order children around. It just seems so outrageously wrong now.

i have an old steiff turtle

the latter is not necessarily a bad thing.

as regards stranger danger, one of the most fascinating things I heard was how pre Myra Hindley, the advice to kids who got lost was "go and find a nice lady".

I like to make them now.

when relating this tale my mother would always (does always, possibly, *shudder*) say "Mark swallowed teddy's tongue" as if I'd been french kissing the bear.

I had a stuffed rabbit for the longest time. Called Rabbi. I had no idea what it meant.

I also had a psychedelic yellow and pink giraffe called Bendy Nez. After that, all giraffes were called Bendy Nez.

ACtually, funnily enough, a lot of my early toys and stuffed animals were in mind-bending fabrics. There was a purple and orange floral print giant horsehead my aunt made me after my mum became obsessed with the Godfather. I loved that horsehead, even if it was kind of ultimate proof that colourblindness seriously ran in the family.

And a bright green and turquoise paisley elephant.

Actually, a lot of things are coming clear to me. It was the 70s. No wonder those late 60s early 70s eyebending patterns are so soothing to me, I associate them with my stuffed animals!