Blanket Thoughts

Part of the experience of making a blanket for a child I will never meet is that it makes me think about kids and their parents.

My children are well into adulthood, but I can remember the experience of raising them.  Kids are not like appliances.  They do not come with a manual.  Even if you read up on child development, books are not going to help you in times of  parenting challenges. Fortunately, I only dealt with broken bones, allergic reactions and the usual kid illnesses.

Project Linus blankets go to children who may not recover from an illness or who may be challenged by it for their lifetime. That must be an incredibly difficult experience for both the child and the parent(s). When my kids were young and I thought about something happening to them, I forced myself to push those thoughts out of my mind because it just made me too sad.

Project Linus blankets go to children who may have been removed from their parents care due to neglect or abuse. Usually this is the result of addiction, mental health issues or a combination of both. We have a horrible drug epidemic that is challenging to social services/health services, law enforcement and our community.  I think children probably suffer the most by losing the parents they love.

Project Linus blankets go to children who may have experienced a disaster: fire, flooding, or a community event that has caused trauma.  I know that I can’t solve the reasons why a child may need a Project Linus blanket, but maybe I can provide some comfort with a blanket I make.