The Bees has a Lovey. For those of you who are not familiar with this term, it is any item that is a source of comfort. Ours is a small square pink blanket with a bunny tucked into a pocket. The bunny has a rattle inside so that The Bees can root around for it in the dark. She calls it her "Zha Zha", and demands it at various times of day and night.

The main use of a lovey is for comfort in her bed. We always find it in time for reading and cuddling before each nap and at night. But the lovey has other uses as well.

The Bees uses it to clean the floors, imitating our cleaning lady Maria.

She uses it to sop up water in the dog's bowl and then sucks on it.

She uses it to wipe her nose when it's itching or runny.

She chomps on it to assuage her teething pain.

She throws it on the floor in airports to use as a pillow.

And ever since we've been reading the book "Upsy Upsy" The Bees has learned that a lovey can join her in the highchair and be a supporting character. So now she wants to include it in mealtime, feeding it rice and beans and peas, just like the bunny does in the book.

Last week in Maine I made the mistake of allowing her to bring it on a picnic and before we'd left the dock Lovey was seen floating face up in the ocean, to be frantically scooped up and wrung out. The Bees cuddled her Lovey even more fiercely, the saltwater saturating her shirt.

So you can see the need to, on occasion, clean the Lovey. How do you clean something that is rarely out of your toddler’s clutches? Like that old joke: “How do porcupines make love?”, the answer is “very carefully”. And in the case of the Lovey, “very stealthily”. The secret is to ferret the thing away from her right after nap, squirrel it into the wash and then into the dryer all before her next nap.

One time I left Lovey behind in a bathtub in my friend's apartment in NYC. I called back in anguish and this very good friend trotted up to Fedex. Bedtime that night was fretful, and sleep was fitful. The next morning Lovey arrived at our doorstep and all was well.

Since then we have ordered a second lovey. It's almost exactly the same, but new of course, with a slightly bigger bunny. Though she will hug both, it’s the old ratty one that The Bees clamors for in times of need.

We try to leave it in the house when we go out. Upon return The Bees will find her lovey, and coo and cuddle it, and then kiss it fervently. She will then hold it up to me so I can kiss Lovey too.