This is Star. She’s a ‘caffuffle cat’ by Jellycat, she’s soft and silky, utterly delicious and supremely cuddlable.
She’s also proof that I am a Very Bad Mother.
My daughter is incredibly lucky – thanks to my job, she has been gifted and sent an enormous array of amazingly fabulous soft toys over the years. Some really really great ones – soft, luxurious, amazingly cute, perfectly designed to capture the heart.
She loves them all – but unlike her older brothers there was never one bed buddy that rose above all the others. She was nothing if not strictly fair – offering bed space in rotation so that no one was left out, and they all got an occasional through-the-night snuggle.
Until last year.
Last year a newcomer to the house suddenly became ever-present; everyone else was relegated to the shelf or the foot of the bed as night after night the interloper was cuddled to sleep, and carried down to breakfast, and brought out on walks.
The amazingly magical stuffie that had captured her heart?
A free gift from Walkers crisps.
All. Those. Amazing. Toys – and she latches on to a cheap little monkey.
I admit it – it irked me.
What on earth did he have, that the others didn’t?
I objected.
And so, when Jellycat offered to send a toy for her to try, I jumped at the chance. HERE was my opportunity to oust the intruder, and replace him with something softer, sweeter, and far more deserving.
And so the kitten arrived, it was loved and squealed over, it was called Star.. and a for a couple of nights Star was snuggled to sleep, clutched in warm little sleepy hands. And every night I would see the baleful stare sad and resigned look gazing up at me from Cheeky Monkey, discarded at the foot of the bed.
But I felt no triumph.
I simply felt… bad.
My 13yr old son berated me for my meanness, for trying to dictate where his sister’s affections should lie, for being a toy snob.
And he was right.
Who am I to choose? Who am I to say that the freebie cheapie Monkey is no less deserving than the expensive soft cuteness that just didn’t hold her affection?
So it was with a merry heart that I noticed on night four that Star AND Cheeky Monkey were being cuddled to sleep. A night or two later, Star was on the edge of the pillow as Cheeky Monkey was back in his rightful clutched-tight-half-squashed space under her chin.
Staring happily right back at me.
Smugly.
Star is a ‘Caffuffle Cay’, who has sadly now been retired by Jellycat. But don’t despair, because there’s always the FuddleWuddle series – just as unbelievably soft and delicious, making them perfect bed buddies and playmates. As you’d expect from Jellycat, they’re brilliantly designed, perfect characters, and we can’t recommend them enough.
Available in three sizes, the Fuddlewuddle Kitty starts at just £10 direct from Jellycat.
Just don’t try and replace a beloved buddy with one. It’s a hollow victory.
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