RETAIL RECOMMENDATION: BUDSIES
As a Pinterest
addict
user, I have long been aware of online companies that take one of your kid's drawings and makes a stuffed animal from it, but never really seriously considered using one. Both of my boys are very, very into stuffed animals in general, forming deep and long-lasting attachments to several specific favorites, but the seven-year-old does way more drawing than his nine-year-old brother ever did.
My sister (also known as the worst client ever, or Sissy) was kind enough to tell young William all about these magical places that would turn one of your drawings into an ACTUAL STUFFED ANIMAL! He had even knew which drawing he wanted to have transformed - a masterpiece in crayon of a cat that appears to have eight legs but, it has been emphatically explained to me several times, only has FOUR legs, the other leg-looking-things are just spots.
For weeks, he kept asking if we could have "Jake" made into a stuffed animal. After checking out the
website and seeing how much it was going to cost for this to happen ($89), I did the best I could to put William off and just sort of hoped he would forget about the whole thing.
But, while he cannot manage to remember to hang up his coat or where he put his backpack or anything that is actually helpful, when it came to Jake as a potential stuffed animal William's memory was like a steel trap. Week after week, he asked. Until I caved.
(I did not, however, completely lose my mind. I opted out of paying $39 more for a larger version. I was also more than willing to forgo a "birth certificate" for Jake, saving another $5.)
I am really, really happy I caved. William was in love the second he saw the "real" version of Jake. Months later, he still wants Jake with him in bed every night, and carries him around the house during the day. As for whether or not William is correct about how much "Jake" looks like the drawing, I will let you be the judge:
Jake (The Stuffed Animal)
XOXOXO
ABC
