Murphy

The girl has this stuffed dog named Murphy. She is rarely seen without her (yes-Murphy is a girl puppy). The girl takes her everywhere! Murphy is the girls best friend. At breakfast time Murphy has to sit right next to the girls breakfast, and the girl occasionally "throws her some scraps" (pretends to feed her). The other day as Murphy was sitting at the breakfast counter, the smaller boy spilled his milk and Murphy was soaked. So I went and threw Murphey in the wash.

Then a friend called and invited us to go do something fun. So as we were about ready to leave, the girl was searching frantically and finally says, "Mom- where is Murphy?"

"Oh- she is in the wash. Remember all the milk that was spilled on her?" I explained.

I saw Molly- another stuffed animal very similar to Murphy. "Honey, why don't you take Molly this time instead," I tried? She then gave me the most incredulous look, like I was the stupidest person in the world, and says,

"Uh-mom... Molly is a TOY!"

Oh so cute. My girl has a REAL toy.
Here is my fav. quote about becoming real from "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams to explain:

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

This is Murphy ^^

This is Molly ^^