Mom sent home this elephant plush toy for Josephine. She said she found it in the pet section of TJ Maxx, but there is what sounds like a baby’s rattle in the head of the elephant. Josephine loves it. LOVES it. We’ve even managed to keep it inside the house. New toys usually always do a tour in the backyard. Sometimes they make it back in, but often they get left out there until they are nice and soggy and a bit muddy. The football sized hedgehog Michael bought her a couple of weeks ago is out there now. Usually, after a big snow melt, I grab a laundry basket and go collect all of the babies in the backyard. Josephine frantically hops around me, trying to snatch them from my hands as I lift them up from the ground. Then she does that head tilt thing as she watches me through them all into the washing machine.

She hasn’t learned that Michael will mow right on over all of them. He will not pause to rescue a single baby.

The elephant Mom sent, though, has been a real hit. She has carried that thing around with her all week, nudging me with it, shaking it, sleeping next to it in her bed. I have not seen her become so enamored with a toy since the IKEA rat. The IKEA rat is currently in the basement. I meant to wash it ages ago, but it has just been so nice to not be startled every time she comes in from outside with it, that I kind of just left it there. The cat brings in a live rat one time and that ruins all rat like toys for eternity. Sometimes, while I’m in the shower, Josephine will just start bringing her toys into the bathroom. When I pull back the shower curtain to get out, I will see that the bath rug in front me is littered with stuff like a ball, a bone, stuffed animal. The other day, I went to step out of the shower and the elephant was the only thing on the bath rug.

I have never had a dog before that was all that attached to toys. Hooper had a squirrel toy that he was mildly interested in, but mostly he always acted like an old man. Odie, who got booted to the outside, loved a good game of tug-of-war, but never really attached himself to anything. He did have a deflated tractor tire inner tube that he dragged around the yard. You could look out the window and see him tossing it into the air or sleeping in it. Josephine has a stash of toys and it is delightful to watch her play with them. Every time she picks up a toy and nudges me with it, I can’t help but pause in what I am doing and play with her. We could all use moments in our days where we are encouraged to pause what we are doing and just play.

Josephine and I are very grateful for my mom for providing this current play time break.