When I think of the fun and happiness that I had with my many stuffed animals--each of which had a name and persona--during childhood, I cringe at the thought of having this author as my parent. Yes, I wished upon a star every night that my stuffed animals would come to life, and even to this day when I am fully grown up for many years, I feel sad when I see children selling their "family" at yard sales or stuffed animals deserted at thrift stores. Stuffed animals triggered my imagination when as an only child I had to find ways to play all on my lonesome.
I feel sorry for the little girl who lost her bunny, and in the Webkinz case, her parent had a clever antidote. But I have to think of the learning opportunity that was lost here about personal responsibility for property and living things. Perhaps since that little girl now knows that animals live on the computer, she can without worry drop a kitten from a window, too. OK, that sounds cruel but I also learned a great love for animals through my stuffed ones, many of who were endangered species such as lions, tigers, etc. On the other hand, the parent wished to spare the child the pain and suffering from a loss of an inanimate object, but again here was a great missed opportunity to underline that one needs to take responsibility for one's property, pets, other people and to be more careful next time. As for assuaging the feelings of loss, my mother wrote me long stories about how my animals went off to have adventures, traveling to exotic places. Wouldn't that have been a great solution--maybe the bunny was called by the Easter Bunny to perform a top secret mission at Easter Island. She didn't want to leave the little girl, but regretfully she had to. That's why she allowed the little girl to drop her. Maybe the little girl could help with coming up with the story of where the bunny is and write in on the computer (wouldn't that be a great way to get used to technology). Then the parent could secretly order another bunny so it could have a triumphant return once the mission is accomplished. Oh but that would take real imagination on the parent's part! They couldn't just rely on a computer as babysitter.
In sum, the author seems to be far more concerned with her own challenge as a parent than her kids. Children are resilient and will get over it. And I dare say much richer for believing in the Skin Horse."How much energy is spent prompting children to look deeply into the glass eyes of the curly haired dog or bunny that will forever sit on its haunches before them"?! No parent ever had to expend "energy" to get me to believe. I took one look and knew. "Velveteen Rabbit" and "Winnie the Pooh" did not stunt my growth but rather encouraged me to love reading and make up stories about my stuffed animals. I probably would not be a writer I am today if I had not spent so much time coming up with stories and enacting dramas with my stuffed animals.
This article is just another example of the lazy, unimaginative parenting that often prevails today. And by the way, yes, I still have all my stuffed animals, and I'm keeping them to give to my own child when I have one.
