Maddie’s Menagerie

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It’s been a while since I’ve shown you the menagerie that lives on Maddie’s bed.  The first drawings I made of the critters she houses were when she was in second grade, and then third grade, and fourth.  Now, as  a fifth grader with her double bed (we switched out rooms and furniture when our eldest went off to college:/) the arrangement is different.  She is much taller now, so the end-of-the-bed assortment gets in the way as she sleeps.

The way she arranges everything on her bed is so festive! The old bed which belonged to my grandmother Catherine, looks positively inviting  with it’s explosion of colorful pillows and plushies!  There’s “Lips”, the beanie baby fish, “Snippy” the small sea turtle, “Squirt” the large sea turtle, “Rainbow” the bear beanie baby (whose birth date on the inside of the little card attached is her diabetes anniversary, which was yesterday, btw!), and then, last but not least, “Isabella” the unicorn, or the pig, or a pig-unicorn??  This last addition to the menagerie occurred at Halloween of this year as Maddie chose to be Agnes from our favorite movie Despicable Me.  It’s a kid-size body pillow that she snuggles with all night! (I don’t think she would like me to write that bit…she is slowly growing into those “that’s not cool mom” years.

The following are my drawings of her menageries from years gone by.  She asked me the other day, “Is it too babyish that I love stuffed animals on my bed?”  My heartfelt response: “Not at all!!  I hope you have stuffed animals with you for as long as you want them!”  Thoughts of her college dorm single bed bursting with pillows and stuffed animals filled my vision!  Oh why do our dear children have to grow up?

Our cat, Lucy, loves to join them for her daily siesta!


0 thoughts on “Maddie’s Menagerie

  1. Lynda Redwitch says:

    I think that Maddie’s bed looks wonderful and these animals contain cherished memories.
    Please tell your daughter that I am over 50 and still have some on my bed! They will always have a place in the heart.
    Love your sketches from over the years 🙂

    • jenpedwards says:

      Me too! I have a box full of the dolls I had as a girl and dolls I had made. Perhaps we should get these things out and draw them!

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