Transitional Objects

So, I attached to my baby blanket, as many babies do. But I was extremely dependent on it.

Kudos to my mother for not taking it away from me. She tried once, and I threw such a fit she gave it back to me.

There were times I didn’t go to sleep over parties because I wouldn’t/couldn’t sleep without it, and I was embarrassed to bring it because I was too old to still have one. The kids would have made fun of me, or worse yet, done something to harm it and I was so attached I wouldn’t dream of taking that chance.

I did not stop sleeping with it nightly until after I was married. I still have it and will still sleep with it if I am feeling especially insecure.

I didn’t think I was emotionally neglected as a child, but I now understand that I was. I have also read being overly reliant on a transitional object is linked to BPD, and I do have borderline traits.

I just thought I’d put this out there. I am not ashamed.

My close friends and even my lovers all thought it was sweet!

Others here may have overly dependent attachments on transitional objects, too.

My dad threw everything away. I think shyte just disappeared. Or got sent to Italy without me knowing about it. I think thats why im a hoarder now. Altho i showed the tendencies as a child too. He wouldnt come into my room to get stuff after a certain age.

Wow. That would be so traumatic to have your things thrown away. It makes sense why you would want to hold on to things now.

My blanket actually wasn’t seen as an “it”. It was a “him”, given a name of a boy character on TV on whom I had a crush.

I only stopped sleeping with it after I had my first child because I felt ashamed to both be having baby blankets!

as a child I had a favorite blanket but due to how loved and used it was it did not survive into my adult hood. I mean how many times can a blanket get dragged around, cuddled, washed and dried before it becomes full of holes, shredded hems, tattered and torn. family stories go that my mother and older siblings would trim and sew, repair until it was just a tiny little one-inch piece of fabric so thin you could see through it. at which point it was finally thrown in the trash destined for the town dump where it belonged lol

by this time I was 8 years old and interested in other things like cooking with my mom and siblings, playing kick ball, tag, ring around a rosy. dodge ball, watching little house on the prairie, wonderful world of disney, playing hide and seek, blind mans bluff catch the fireflies, reading books, lots of reading books. playing in the snow making snow angels, snow people, snow forts, in other words by the time my "blanket" was so loved, tattered and worn down to a one inch see through piece for the trash I was old enough mentally and physically to leave behind my toddler days of sitting around the house with a blankie for more active days of elementary school, and more grown up things.

I remember many times in my childhood thinking "cant wait until Im old enough to stay up to watch this show, or play this game like my siblings and friends. so for me leaving behind my itty bitty tattered torn, worn out almost see through little piece of a toddler blanket was something I was proud and happy to do. still remember standing at the trash can with my older sibling and she saying ok time to go and I happily dropped that thing in the trash lol

I have had many blankets over the years but none ever became my one and only go to, fabric does not last forever. I just didnt see nor need to latch on to something that was going to wear its self out over time.

my go to was more realistically long term by going out in nature. taking a walk, picking daisies and one eye susans, laying in the grass looking for 4 leaf clovers, sitting by the lake writing, thinking. nature is always going to be here. I may have to go looking for it because I live in the city and the outskirt areas, but theres always going to be lakes to sit by, streams to enjoy exploring, theres always going to be a field to walk through somewhere. woods to explore, mountain trails to hike up, camping, and so forth.

I developed my love for canoeing around the age of 10 so you might say that replaced my childhood blanket lol

Sounds traumatic I hold onto stuff now too. She threw some of my stuff away