Once upon a time there was a small boy who became overly attached to his stuffed puppy. The puppy’s name was, of course, Puppy. And everything the boy did, he did with his puppy. And any time you suggested a game or a book or even a TV show, the boy had to check with Puppy, first, to make sure that that was okay. At bedtime, his mother had to kiss him AND Puppy goodnight, or he couldn’t sleep. And if Puppy was missing at bedtime? Well, let’s just say you’d better find him. STAT.
This was extremely charming when the boy was two or three years old, but was becoming tiresome by age six or so. By the time the boy was seven, his evil mother was working very hard to suggest horrible things like “Leaving Puppy at home” and “Thinking for yourself” and “MAKE YOUR DAMN DOG STOP LOOKING AT ME.”
And then the boy and his puppy moved, and the mother decided it was time for some changes.
In the new house, the boy had a new room! That was very exciting. And after some deliberating it was decided that the room would be decorated with airplanes. Had the boy ever expressed a special affinity for airplanes? Well, no, he hadn’t. But there were airplane wallies and he liked them and they seemed like something he wouldn’t outgrow immediately. So. Fine. Excellent. Besides, Puppy concurred. Airplanes it would be!
Ever so slowly, Puppy started staying in the boy’s bed most of the time. Which meant that he was spending a lot of time in that airplane room, you know. And Puppy was being VERY well-behaved, in spite of his long hours alone. He was quiet and didn’t scratch or bark, and he hardly ever messed on the carpet.
Over time, though, Puppy began to really love those airplanes. Why, he started dreaming about taking to the skies, himself. Or so the boy claimed.
Both the boy and Puppy had really been quite good, all things considered. So the evil mother had a brief glimmer of kindness and decided to commission a painting to celebrate all of the recent changes—the new plane room, Puppy’s newfound independence, and just the fact that the boy is pretty darn cute.
Enter one painter extraordinaire. The mother knew she needed someone with vision. Someone with brilliance. Someone who is really, really good at drawing cartoon dogs.
At long last, the day arrived for the unveiling. Behold, Puppy Takes to the Sky:
Puppy’s impressive flight is currently taking place between two closets, at a vantage point that allows a small boy relaxing on his bed to behold the flight pattern in its full glory. Said child has expressed nothing but elation over this masterpiece, and has said—and I quote—“Oh! Oh! Oh! Please tell Miss Tammy I said THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH!”
As for Puppy? Well, he had an opinion, as well.
He gave it two paws up.
(And then he asked why he doesn’t have any thumbs. SOME PEOPLE. Er, SOME DOGS.)
mine was a rabbit. Named – of course – “Rabbit”. . . .
I miss that rabbit.
That is so great!
And an ear up too.
That is one lucky Monkey. And Puppy of course. I’m glad other people’s children name their beloved animals utterly boring names. We had Mr Tiger (and his sister, Mr Tiger), Elephanty, Bear-Bear and so on. There were only two exceptions: a small rubber fish named Cinderella Kissy-Face Fish and a stuffed mouse named CheeseAppleMousePeeperSqueakOurVeryLongLastName. Mr Tiger, by the way, still shares his owner’s bed although said owner is a dignified and mature teenager.
Excellent painting! Lucky boy is lucky his mom knows someone with such talent…
Cute. And we have boring stuffed toy names too. Sort of. Dog called Woofy. Rat called Ratty Guy. Water buffalo (blame husband’s business trip to South Africa) called Horny. A camel called Humpy. And difficulty keeping a straight face sometimes.
At our house the favorite pet is Blue Bear. Of course it is, wait for it…. a turquoise bear. But you were close! Blue Bear was purchased as a bribe (Yes, I resort to that when there is a screaming 2 year old riding in the cart while I have to do emergency shopping) at a horrible, awful store that I won’t even mention the name of as to not soil your blog.
OMG! That is so awesome! Sweetie would DIE if one of her “friends” was imortalized on her walls.
Her friends, of course, being Curious George, Bunny and Kisses (the Hershey’s Kiss). Teddy was kicked out of her bed about 2 months ago. Kids – oh so practical in their naming abilities. :)
Love it. My eldest daughter has the ever original “Bunny” for her bunny (of all things)my youngest daughter has “Wilson” for her puppy, my youngest son has “Will/Vincent” for his dog (he’s a bit indecisive sometimes) and the prizewinner goes to my eldest son with the name “Cowon” pronounced cow-on for his little spotted heifer. That painting is brilliant and I am envious over you having it and the talent that created it. Love that the dog and the plane have the same menacing grimace! Brilliant.
That may be the sweetest thing ever.
Sweet enough to make me all snotty over my coffee, thank you very much.
I’d be wondering why he only has one ear. Did Puppy slice it off in a fit of aritistic pique, a la Picasso?
Bubba has Bill, his duck. Get it? Bill. Hubs named that one before Bubba could talk and had a say in the matter. Punkin has Bear who I was tempted to name Ted — as in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Because what is parenting if not an excellent adventure. Alas, he remains just Bear.
Now we just ad -ie to the end of everything, i.e., Bearie, Duckie, Hauntie (our ghost) which sounds so much like honky that I struggle not to crack up every time he makes an appearance!
I had imaginary animal friends; Woof-woof and Cat. I am still the dullest person you’ll ever meet.
We have a pooh bear who would love to star in his own mural like that. What a great room Monkey must have!
Aw, snif. You’re such a good mom. (For the record, in our house it was a frog named Froggy.)
All hail Puppy, the flying ace! That’s so cool…
BTW, my childhood pink elephant was called (wait for it) Pink Elephant.
I now have the words ‘Fly, puppy, fly’ stuck in my head, like from a song. I don’t know what is up with that, but it’s not entirely unpleasant.
aww how sweet.. Although it is a perhaps scary glimpse into our future.. My now 20mo is very attached to a certain puppy- named Puppy DAWG.. I’ve never had a child attach to a specific item so let’s hope that it ends while it’s still cute :)
I had (ahem, HAVE):
pande – panda bear
koaley – koala bear
Yea. It goes on from there, but you get where this is going.
The point is, Monkey is the best because he pretty much has my naming system down. It’s complicated, ya know.
My 3 year old has a dog named Woofie. I never thought of including my boys stuffed dogs into the art in their bedroom, but what an awesome idea!
Our current one is Pumpkin Jack – as in an honest to god flesh and seed pumpkin. Most kids have stuffed animals – oh no, not our boy, he’s attached to a FRUIT! Luckily it hasn’t gotten soft and nasty yet (it was never cut), but I’m not looking forward to that day…
Actually it’s not that bad, Pumpkin Jack isn’t a companion and doesn’t get slept with. But still, a pumpkin?!?!
I had a Madame Alexander doll. Self named. Reportedly she performed in skin flicks. Reported by the boy who was my co-director. In front of all our parents after we reached supposed adulthood. Not exactly an “Ahhhhh, how sweet” moment.
That is fabulous!!!!!!! Puppy looks like he’s having a great time!
We have a lamb….named Baby…..and a lamb….named Lamby. AND don’t you dare get them mixed up!!!!!!!!!
I absolutely love that painting. My son has a “Puppy”, too. Only he calls it “Quackers”. Yes, I know the name is better suited for a duck. It’s weird and irrational — just like Zach!
Two paws and one ear up. I’m hoping the other ear is still attached.
My daughter loved a certain Ty Plushie elephant, and I bought a back-up in case anything ever happened to that one. She’s long since given it up given that she has two million gazillion other stuffed animals competing for her attention. The other day we were in a store and I spotted the same Ty elephant and asked her did she recognize it. Of course she didn’t! Even though we still have the same two elephants at home.
Her thing now is acorns. Her school bag and jacket pockets are full of them. She brings them home and bathes them and takes care of them and they are her best friends, and there are acorn shells all in my bed poking me in the behind. Hopefully one won’t find a particularly dirty corner and sprout an oak tree. (In my house, not in my behind!) Well, if they have not all gone rotten, maybe I can convince her to leave them outside for the squirrels this winter.
Is there anything sweeter than the sight of a well-loved stuffed animal?
Lucky Monkey, to have a mom who would help him have sweet dreams.
I was in serious “awwww…”-ness, before I broke out in laughter at the puppy talk. :p
Aw that’s cute. I had a bunny named Bunny of course. And a blanket named blanky.
How original eh?
That is the cutest thing, ever!
You’re the best mom.
All my animals were “feminized” versions of their names. For example, my Koala bear’s name was “Koalana.”
What is it with our boys? I expected my girl to have a favorite but she never did. :( But my boys? Hawk, an imaginary hawk who rode a motorcycle beside our van and perched on Boy’s bed at night (he got his imaginative naming system from me). And Poppers the tiger, for Boy2. Girl missed out.
HA – look at the angry parachuting cats! Beautiful artwork!
My nephew has ‘snuggle puppy’ who looks similar to Monkey’s puppy, and ‘blue puppy’ who is a puppy…and blue.
I took a photo of the puppy pair when he had them both at my house one day and gave him a framed copy for his 4th birthday in October. Reportedly, the photo moves from room to room with him so his puppies can watch him play.
Our nine year old still has “Bunny” she was given when she was born. Still sleeps with it every night. Once in a while she lends it out to sleep with her two year old brother. She’s an awesome big sister.
This may be the last really nice thing you need to do for Monkey to make up for your insanity from last month’s web site fiasco. What do you have up your sleeve for Chickadee?
Ah, memories! This takes me back to my doll Thumbelina. The only day of the year I didn’t sleep with her was Christmas Eve, because of course Santa took her for a beauty makeover that night (meaning I awoke to a new Thumbelina on Christmas morning). I still have her, and I’ll bet Monkey will still have Puppy tucked away somewhere when he’s my age!
But my mom and dad NEVER had Thumbelina immortalized on canvas!! How swanky – and thoughtful!!!
When my sister was little she named all her stuffed animals Peter, until bossy older sister that I was, I insisted it made playing with them too confusing and I renamed all but one. At her wedding, I mentioned this in my speech and claimed I retained the right to name her offspring. Well, they split up after two and a half years and the marriage was without issue. Too bad. I like coming up with names and I’m not having any more kids.
Thing 2 has a puppy and his name is Spoiled. Reason being, when MIL purchased said puppy for Thing 2 we told him he was spoiled. So hence the name. Good thing we did not say he was a little s@it.
We did it the other way around in our house; the mural was done before the boy was born, and so came Pooh and all the related animals. Of course, now, at the age of 5, Little E has Bear, Puppy, and Windy (as in “windy-up a toy” – and he’s a beanie baby bear). I have no idea where that name came from, but Windy is Little E’s favourite!
I didn’t even notice the cats til someone pointed it out. How clever! Great job on the mural!
My 5 year old has a Thomas the train pillowcase he must have at bedtime. He calls it ‘pillowcase’. Not very original around here.
My puppy was a rabbit named Bozo. I carried Bozo around with me EVERYWHERE. He went with me to 3rd grade when I switched to a new school and didn’t know anyone. He saw me through several camps and a 2 week trip to Europe when I was in high school. Now Bozo has a special place on my nightstand and even though he is no longer pink, has a hole in his head, and a larger one in his back (I made a shirt and pants out of an old pair of sweats to keep his stuffing in) I still love that crazy old bunny.
It’s wonderful to memorialize Puppy in that way!
Amelia has a little bear in a bunny suit that she used to only sleep with. She named him “night-night” and now he goes everywhere with us.
My youngest called her suffed bunny that I gave her for her first birthday Bunny-At. Which puzzled us no end because we had told her it was called Bunny, until we realized that any time we asked her where it was we said, “Where’s Bunny at?
Tammy, you so totally rock.
Two Paws Up: I think there’s a “Doggy Bakery” in town with that name. No, they don’t bake dogs, you carnivores, they bake specialty dog biscuits.
Can you imagine what that little puppy could do with opposible thumbs?
My son has had “Doggie” since he was 1. Up til then it was a series of animals that he liked. At one, Doggie took prime spot and he still there at 7.5 y.o.
my son has a teddy bear that he got for his 2nd christmas, he was 1 at the time. He still has it 4 years later and he HAS to have it at bed time. Over the last 6 months or so Teddy has become a girl teddy where as all of his other stuffed animals are all boys still.
I WANT A PUPPY ON MY WALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had a pink elephant called… Pink Elephant. It’s almost a kid ritual. I will give my children rabbits, because of the ones who have been my babies for so many years while we continue to try to build a family. It would actually be sweet if they were called “Rabbit” or “Bunny”.
My nearly 6 yr old has an extremely ratty stuffed duck, named Big Duck, who has been his constant companion since being pulled out of a claw machine when Boy was 17 months old. Big Duck was once white with a bright orange sundress and a sporty flowered visor. She is now a dingy grey, her dress has more mends than fabric, and the visor disappeared long ago. I’m afraid to wash her again, for fear she will disintigrate completely. Big Duck has just recently started staying home when Boy goes to kindergarten and it makes me…well…a little sad, which surprises the stuffing out of me. Big Duck will always have a cherished place in our family, even when Boy decides he is too grown up for her!
i had to add mine…
i had a stuffed moose that i was obsessed with (which is what you get when youre parents take you to national parks as vacations)
named…..moosie. b/c what would be a better name for a moose?
I am fifty one and I still have a stuffed Goobie on my bed. er I mean a fluffy stuffed platipus duck thingie. This is one loved looking puppy.
So, so, so cute.
Maybe I could get a painting of an octopus flying a plane.
My 7 year old’s is a rhino named Harry. We’re starting the process of convincing him that Harry can’t go everywhere anymore. It’s sad for me…I dread the day Harry is relegated to the room all day everyday. What a creative, wonderful thing you did. Stacey
Little does Monkey know that his bloodthirsty puppy just shot those kitties’ plane out of the sky!
I still have a few of my oh-so-originally-named stuffed friends of my youth hanging around. I try to foist them on my daughter now and then, but she doesn’t seem as enamored of them as I was.
Such a cute painting for Monkey’s room! And thanks for introducing me to the precarioustomato as I laughed very hard at her misfortune with the pumpkin butter, having something similar happen to me with salsa!
Fabulous job, Miss Tammy!
My 11 yr old step daughter has a rooster (Roosty of course) that goes everywhere with her but to school. She has had him since she was one. He even has his own clothes for every season. That damn Roosty will be going on her honeymoon!!!!!
Very cute picture.
Too funny! My 7 year old also has a “Puppy.” It’s a stuffed dog that honestly looks more like a rabbit, but he’s a Puppy.
Loving the artwork.
Was worried for as minute that boy and dog had moved into their own place!
At our house it is a tiger called Strindberg and a rabbit named Hamlyn.
That was awsome.I loved that.My 29 dogs are so mad .I just love anything with dogs and animals.espically DOGS!!!!.I luv luvluvluvluvluv Dogs.well this is so great and funny.