What gives a toy “special favourite” status?

A lot of children have that one special toy. A teddy bear, blanket or soft toy that has been awarded the high honour of being the special favourite.

My brother had a special blankie when he was little. A flannel cot sheet that our mother cut into quarters, so that there could be a blankie rotation – one in use, one dirty, one spare and one in the washing machine! Other parents resort to buying multiples of the same toy in order to avert future disaster, and in this modern world the internet is filled with pleas for children to be reunited with their special toy.

Up until now, we thought we had avoided the mixed blessing of Georgie having a special favourite. After a brief flirtation with her Hipp elephant comforter as a baby, she hasn’t shown any particular inclination towards any of her toys.

For two years we thought we didn’t have to worry about keeping an eye on that precious item whilst out and about. No need to turn the house upside down hunting for the mislaid favourite. Stress-free transfers from car seat to pushchair without having to scoop up dropped toys.

No longer is that the case. It may have taken her a while, but Georgie has finally awarded one toy “special favourite” status. This honour goes to the Melody doll we recently received from Bigjigs Toys as part of the Play Patrol bloggers scheme. Georgie is one of their Play Patrol agents, and gets to test out toys for them. We gave Melody a very well-deserved 5 stars after she spent her first week in our home, and I can report that she & Georgie have become joined at the hip.

Melody gets to join Georgie on outings, whilst playing in the garden, and is a constant presence in her bed at naptime and bedtime. She isn’t quite at the stage where her absence causes tantrums, but she will frequently run off whilst playing in order to fetch Melody so that she can join in with whatever we are doing.

The toy Cushi Tush we got at the baby show is most frequently occupied by Melody, as is the toy pushchair in the garden. Georgie likes to do circuits; around the patio, up the stairs, around the lawn, then down the other stairs and back to where they started. On the swing and see-saw, Melody gets to sit on her lap… though I must admit to wedging the poor doll into the handlebar of the see-saw so Georgie would hold with BOTH hands. She’s even got to go down the slide a few times, with & without Georgie, and had a float around on her back in the paddling pool!

Melody is admittedly a very lovely doll, as we said in our review. There is no denying, however, that Georgie has quite a few very lovely toys. I have to wonder, why this particular toy? I wonder what it is that makes her love her so much, that she has very obviously become Georgie’s special favourite toy.

I’m not sure what would happen if we lost Melody, other than a very speedy order going in on the Bigjigs website! Does your child has a special toy they can’t live without?