Why my son does not sleep with a bear...

This is my oldest son, asleep with his stuffed dog.

There are a few things you should know about this relationship:

1. He has never spent the night without this thing... ever.  As in, the one time we left it at the school, we called the principal and other employees until we found someone to let us in at 9 pm.

2. He believes that one day, if he loves "dog" enough, dog will come to life.  Stupid Velveteen Rabbit story.  I mean, really.

 I discovered this the last time he was sick.  He wanted dog more than normal, and when I asked why, he said "If I love him when I am sick, he will come to life faster."  hmmm.

3. His baby brother sleeps with a stuffed bear that my older son gave him in the hospital - one of those misguided attempts at early bonding: Give the baby a present!  He got you this cool monster truck so you won't notice that mommy doesn't have as much time for you any more!  Right, that worked.

Fast-forward to tonight.

I walk in from dinner with friends to give him a kiss.
He tells me. "Mommy, I love Dog so much that I think he comes alive in the night when I am sleeping.  That's why you can't have a bear or an alligator to sleep with, because if they come to alive, they might eat you up.  A dog just protects you."

I'm hoping he's temporarily forgotten that the baby sleeps with a bear.  I'm really hoping he doesn't remember this in the middle of the night tonight.

Did I mention they share a room?