Hilary Moon Murphy

In Search of Pink Pig

This is my daughter's best friend.

Pink Pig is her co-passenger in the dreaded car seat, and her constant traveling companion everywhere else. She feeds him toast, waves him in the air when she's happy, and buries her face in his fur when she's being sleepy or shy.

Sometimes when she's upset, just the sight of Pink Pig can make things better. When we console her, we hug Cassie and she hugs Pink Pig. And lately, when I've asked her if she wants a kiss, she's held up Pink Pig to be kissed too.

Children this age often find something to comfort them and ease them through daily separations with caregivers and other transitions. And while Andy and I are glad that Cassie has this special friend, we recognize that there are downsides to attachment objects.

When Pink Pig needs a bath -- which is often -- Andy and I must conspire to distract Cassie long enough to get him through the washer and dryer before Cassie notices that he is gone.

Also, what happens if you lose your child's best friend? So far, we've been fortunate. I have only once had to drive across town in a blizzard to fetch Pink Pig when he was left behind. That once was enough.

At Cassie's daycare, all the older children keep a special watch out for Pink Pig. If they go outside to play, our day care provider accounts first for all the children, and then for Pink Pig. But I know that no one is perfect. I worry about what will happen if the Pig gets left behind on one of their many outings.

It has become clear that we need another Pink Pig. We need another one very, very badly. But where would we find one?

Pink Pig had arrived at our house on the Thanksgiving before Cassie was born, as a special gift from Cassie's Grandma Beth. Neither Andy nor I had had any inkling then how important this toy would become. All we noticed was that it was cute, fluffy and that it had some of those annoying heart-shaped tags from the Ty toy corporation. Knowing that the pig was a gift for a baby and not caring about future collector value, I removed the tags and tossed them out.

It was only months later that I realized how stupid that had been. Those tags held the key to Pink Pig's true identity in the Ty universe. All of the Ty toys have these little cutesy names that identify them to other collectors. When I went on the Ty website, I realized that the entire site is set up on the assumption that you know the names of all the Beanies you own. It took me over two hours to find a photo of the Beanie I wanted. Pink Pig's alias in the Ty universe was "Squealer." The Squealer Beanie Buddy™ had been discontinued November 24, 1999 -- the same day that Pink Pig had arrived in my home.

Discontinued. I sat staring at the screen for several minutes, wondering what the heck to do.

Then it occurred to me that Ty toys were collectibles, and that there was a secondary market for such things. I had never before had any reason to visit eBay, but I went there now. As I typed the word "Squealer" into eBay's search engines, I bit my lip in anticipation and dread. Would the Squealer Beanie Buddy™ turn out to be rare? Would there be anyone selling it at all? I envisioned weeks of searching, and price tags in the hundreds of dollars.

All of which shows just how neurotic and clueless I was. The eBay search engine turned up 109 auctions of Squealer Beanie Buddies™ -- most with bid prices running about twelve dollars. Looking at the descriptions that went along with the auctions was fascinating. Many of the descriptions went something like this:

Squealer Beanie Buddy -- Discontinued and Rare -- Hermetically sealed in a smoke-free, climate-controlled environment, and then wrapped in acid-free paper. Never exposed to direct sunlight. Only taken out while wearing gloves and surgical mask. Tag is mint condition, maintained in its own heart-shaped plastic tag protector. Minimum bid ten dollars.

Ten dollars? All that effort for ten dollars? I really do not understand collectors. One seller even went so far as to mention that the Beanie Buddy had been kept in a good Christian home. I suppose that for some purchasers this might be a selling point. Heaven forbid that your Beanie Buddy had taken part in satanic rituals.

All this made me wonder what kind of description would accompany Pink Pig:

Squealer Beanie Buddy, best friend to one year-old. Spent most of the last three months clutched by a set of grubby fingers. Has been slept with, chewed, drooled upon, and dropped in puddles. Possesses a wide-ranging education in children's literature and excellent conversational skills. Priceless.

So did we make a bid? Yeah, we did.

Some of the Squealers were being sold in sets with a dozen or more other Beanies. Some were being sold alone. And there was one that advertised a box of a half-dozen Squealers, all in their original packaging for $40.00. Guess which one we bid upon?

Pink Pig's six new siblings should arrive any day now. And just in time too. As I'm writing this, Cassie is sick. Her fever last night went to 102, and all she wanted to do was cuddle with Pink Pig and her parents. Pink Pig is looking particularly bedraggled, and might appreciate another bath.

The January Web Rat Name Your Own Dare! (700 Words a Day on Fire of Genius) Pre-Dare Dare Total Today 14,498 5857 304 Other Dare Participants: Anne | Jennifer | Jim | Karina | Marti | Rob | Sam | Trey

Did I get much writing done last night with a sick baby? No. I've got the same cold Cassie does. But I did make some progress this morning. 300 more words. And maybe I'll get some more done while Cassie naps. She's feeling a little better this morning, but is still exhausted.

Today I'm profiling fellow darer Anne Hutchins. Anne is queen of the political rant, and has been working on a portfolio of web animation (including some fun spinning stars.) Like me, she has had a hard time with this dare. However, I have to admire her courage to keep going with it, even when her totals have been discouraging. In her own words:

WebRat Jim Hines has proposed another Dare -- this one called the Masochistic Dare. I've decided to join that one (attention Rats: I will enter any Dare proposed -- whatever it takes, I'm keeping this log going). Now, Jim has 60k words shored up -- and it took him only a month. Egads! Now, I can't possibly compete with that kind of word count -- but I can at least try to meet my own piddly goal.

That's the spirit, Anne! Keep working on that Mind Diver Novel, and keep going! And hey, you've inspired me to keep working on my own piddly goals, too. Maybe I can rack up another 100 words while Cassie sleeps. See you all tomorrow.

Hope all of you are well and happy.

Hmm