Separation Anxiety Strikes Again

We have all the bunk bed parts. Last night we went over how we were going to assemble it today. The boys talked about the merits of Batman sheets versus Spiderman sheets while I shook out the various fleece blankets they have to see what would fit a twin bed and what was too small. I'm going to have a large lot of toddler fitted sheets to offer on eBay. I mentioned this to DH and Mayhem suddenly became concerned. "You give away my truck sheets?" I explained the sheets won't fit on the new mattresses so we won't need them any longer.

Mayhem threw himself on his bed (with truck sheets) and sobbed "BUT I WUV MY TRUCK SHEETS!!!"

Oh dear.

Deciding to go with the 'ripping the bandaid off quickly' approach, I told him that when the bunk bed were set up, we would be removing his toddler bed and wouldn't need it or the sheets so we will be giving them away and I tried to remind him of how excited he was about the bunk beds and Batman sheets.

He wasn't having it. He is now distraught at the idea of giving away his bed, let alone his sheets.  But let me be clear - he wants the bunk beds and Batman sheets, he just doesn't want to get rid of the toddler bed & sheets.  He thinks I should just keep them in the spare bedroom, leaning against a wall, so he can look at them. He doesn't want them to go away forever and cries at the very thought.

This is new. Two months ago we went through their toys, sorting out what to keep, what to donate and what to toss and he was right in there, sorting with the best of them. There were some things that were his 'favorite' that he didn't want to go away forever, but the vast majority of toys he was able to view objectively - I have outgrown that, I don't play with that, that is broken, I want to keep that.  He's never been the sort of child that had to carry a lovey around. Unlike his brother, who has a blankie and a bear, Mayhem never developed a particular attachment to any one item. He is randomly affectionate to all the toys, taking dinos, race cars, dump trucks, stuffed animals and trains to bed with him at various times.

I'm trying to be sympathetic about it. I remember having attachments to inanimate objects when I was kid. So I can empathize with him. But at a certain point sympathy becomes enabling and I can never tell what his reaction to my sympathy is going to be. Sometimes it calms him down and sometimes I can tell he is forcing himself to be upset. I'm just hoping this phase passes quickly.

I've decided instead of eBay I am going to keep the patterned sheets and rework them into a couple of quilts for the boys (many of their sheets I made & some are store bought, there should be plenty of fabric). I'm going to call the family shelter in town & see if they need a toddler bed, a couple of mattresses and the solid sheets. Maybe if Mayhem sees where the bed is going he'll feel better about it.

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