Marshall from Paw Patrol makes the greatest knee pillow I have ever had.
Yes, I stole him from a baby.
No, I don't regret it.
The baby has tons of other toys and I have a connective tissue disorder so my skeleton is janky, at best.
Paw Patrol to the rescue!
Reddit user Civil-Scallion3503 asked:
"A surprisingly high amount of people (adults) still sleep with a comfort item, what’s yours?"
I know I'm not the only parent whose kid has "donated" a stuffy or two as a cuddle buddy. I'm also not the only one out here who needs a cuddle buddy to begin with.
Here's what Reddit uses:
Pork Chop
"A tiny throw pillow with a pig dressed in cowboy clothes. There's a western-style text font above it that reads 'pork chop.' "
"I'm 20 now and still sleep with it."
"It's a random pillow I saw in the mall when I was 2. I pointed at it and my mom bought it."
"I don't really like to keep a lot of things in my room. I give away a lot of stuff from my childhood but I can't let go of this one!"
- chwenotchews
"I love that! Really random but hey it’s what helps you sleep and that’s awesome."
- Civil-Scallion3503
Imgur
The Classics
"The classic one: my teddy bear."
"It's 30 cm high. Apparently I love my teddys to death because I have to buy a new one every couple years. Then I have to slowly adjust to the new one as it smells and feels different from the old one."
"Also I absolutely hate it when I need to wash it. It doesn't smell or feel like teddy, just like my washing stuff."
"I really love it and need it. It's there for me when I cry, sleep, am happy, watching shows. I carry it with me through my flat. Sometimes I talk to it."
"Yes, I am living alone. Yes, I am a grown-up woman. Yes I know it's weird but luckily my partner knows about teddy and accepts it."
"I also have a big teddy watching over me and sitting in my unused side of my double bed."
- Kaelysaa
"Grown man here."
"I have a teddy as well. Last time he was washed, Reagan was in office. What makes teddy, teddy. Is that fact he's been well-loved."
"New bears are nothing like well-loved bears. There is comfort, there is safety."
"I don't give a f*ck if the outside world would thinks I'm strange. There are people out there committing real crimes. I refuse to be bear shamed."
- LibertyBibbity
"When I was 31, I received my first ever teddy bear. I had always wanted one and cried for like an hour when I opened the box my aunt sent me."
"His name is Bear Bear. Sleep well with him."
- Slight-Ad-1744
A Rock
"A literal rock - not even kidding."
"Specifically a quartz crystal - like I'm not into crystal mythology or whatever, I just really like this one rock. It is A Cool Rock, I've had it since 2015."
"This sounds stupid, but it feels like it's a privilege to be able to have something around that is older than me, my family and everything I know."
"I got it dated once, and it turns out it's 66 million years old - it's very cool that I'm lucky enough to have found something so old that I got to attached to."
"All rocks are super old, and we just dismiss it. It's nice to keep an eye open and then if you find one you like, you can find out more about it by asking around geology departments like I did."
"I am a 29 year old man, bur adulthood sometimes involves having Cool Rocks"
- cripple2493
"Humans have been collecting shiny rocks forever, I like this one the most so far."
- Gildian
The Right White
"I have permanent tinnitus from taking ototoxic medication."
"I wear earbuds or headphones during the vast majority of my downtime."
"I cannot sleep without a fan running. I need white noise or I can't relax."
- RABBIT_3314
"I don't have tinnitus but my parents do and I grew up in a very small house."
"My mom always had a box fan on at night to drown out the tinnitus so she could sleep, and you could hear it in every room... now I can't sleep without a box fan either."
- Lumpy_Space_Princess
Elmo!
"I've got a relatively large Elmo doll."
"Not like a tickle me Elmo toy, all he has is stuffing inside so he's very soft."
"Had one when I was kid. It's nice having one now too."
- UltimateStrenergy
"For me it's a tiny little Elmo doll! I've had it for 24 years now."
- hannahbeliever
Elmo Hello GIF by Sesame StreetGiphyThey Cared Enough About A Stranger
"Back in 2017 I voluntarily admitted myself to a mental hospital for 11 days due to a really bad relapse into drug use."
"When they showed me to my room, on each bed was a small handmade blanket. I picked the bed I picked because one side of the blanket was red flannel and the other side is like nursery rhymes and it’s soft and so comfortable to lay with."
"It isn’t very big, it barely covers my torso, but the nurse who showed me to my bed told me the folks in the elderly care home down the road sew those blankets specifically for the people that come in to that hospital. They also make them for preemies at the nicu."
"It’s been five years and seven different places - and it will always stay on my pillow."
"Often I will fold it up and wrap it around my eyes when I’m feeling overwhelmed and I am reminded that someone who never met me, who never knew what brought me to that hospital bed… they made that blanket to comfort someone."
"They cared about a stranger enough to put their time and labor into this adorable little blanket and I cherish it."
- justhavinganap
Penis Face
"For Christmas my family plays a game where we trade around gag gifts and at the end the game the gift you end up with is the one you get. My oldest daughter has a dirty sense of humor."
"I now sleep with a 12"x12" plush penis."
"I tell people my penis is so big I can wrap my arms around it or lay my head on it. And damn if he doesn't have the cutest face on him. I am a 47 year old man, by the way."
- theomniconian
It Runs In The Family
"I have horrible sleeping problems because of my mental state so despite being 20 I still sleep with my llama plushie. His name is Menta (Hebrew for mint) and I love him dearly."
"I also have a few smaller plushies that are there to comfort me, two of them are realistic fish plushies in different sizes and they are both lawyers. They are father and son, it runs in the family."
"I’m not a marine biologist, so I don't know what they actually are - but they are awesome fishies."
- TomokaTheAxolotl
Fathers Day Hug GIF by DisneyGiphyLike A Baby
"I'm sleeping with my baby blanket now."
"It's made of some kind of thermal material, and it used to be white but is now a pretty unappealing gray color lol."
"It's older than I am, over thirty years. It's got so many holes in it due to childhood dogs biting it/me dragging it everywhere. One corner turned into a long rope like piece that I wrap around my fingers when zoning out."
"I sleep with it all the time. Its smell and feel calms me down."
"I can't wash it in machines or it will fall apart, so I hand wash it very rarely. It... gets pretty dirty from body oils I guess."
"I can't throw it out. The day I lose it or it gets damaged beyond repair will be a sad one."
- Stoobly
"My blankie."
"My mom bought it 9 years before I was born for a baby shower gift. For some reason she couldn’t bring herself to give it away. She bought another gift and put blankie in her closet."
"9 years later I was born and it’s been my comfort object for 37 years."
- MalaEnNova
The Vest
"After I wrecked my motorcycle, my best friend bought me a new vest because mine got destroyed."
"I wore it to bed every night and told everyone that I did so because it helped with the broken ribs (which it did, actually), but it was really because it was the only thing that helped with the crippling fear I had while I was concussed."
"Most of it I think had to do an identity crisis I was experiencing. Anyway, I don't sleep with it every night now, just when my anxiety gets bad. But it's always within arm's reach. Always."
"I also have a super soft sheepy squishmellow plush named Blossom that's usually floating around my bed. Lol"
- purplesheepy
It's your turn to get in on the action.
Do you have a cuddle buddy for bed time? If you're a parent - did you steal it from your kid? Be honest.
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Curious to hear examples of these, Redditor lilac_cup asked:
"Which tv series has aged like milk?"
The handling of these controversial TV story lines seem so careless in retrospect.
Addressing Child Abuse
"The very first episode of Hill Street Blues has two cops breaking up a domestic disturbance caused by a woman finding her man f'king her 15yo daughter. The man is told not to be sh**ty, the woman is told to put out more and the child is told not to be so tempting. Then the cops leave, patting themselves on the back for a job well done."
– kifferella
The Teacher's Secret Relationship
"Pretty Little Liars. I think even at the time, the teacher dating his 16 year old student storyline was considered creepy, but in 2022 it’s honestly unbelievable that was ever portrayed in any kind of positive light. Also that her parents didn’t immediately just report him to the police."
– ColdFIREBaker
Forbidden Attraction
"Not the whole series but Ally McBeal. In one episode Ally found out her bf is bi and her reason breaking up with him was she afraid that one day her bf would be attracted to their son."
– thrussie
These reality shows would never fly in a "woke" world.
Racist Cringe
"There was a reality show on Fox called 'Black. White.' Where they put a white family in blackface and a black family in whiteface."
"Just reading about it, it turns out the white family wasn't even a real family. They were unrelated actors."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black._White.
– MichaelJAwesome
Extreme Makeover
"Extreme makeover. I remember watching this show as a kid and being like oh wow they’re fixing all these ugly people with plastic surgery and making them happy. I just think that caused a whole generation to think they could change their body with money. Show lasted like 4 seasons. Couldn’t imagine that show today."
– thenightshifters
Teen Exploitation
"Secret life of an American teenager."
"Just what…."
– carlirodriguez8
A Critique
"My god this show was terrible. My wife’s sister was into it and we ended up watching a lot of it when we were dating. I think they tried to make the banter like Gilmore Girls, but it ended up being the characters repeating their current plots and arcs over and over. I don’t remember the characters at all, but the main character was such a horrible person, and the audience is supposed to root for her."
"The main things I remember about it were the religious girl claiming she killed her dad by having sex with her boyfriend, and apparently you go to Bologna to get bjs."
– MachFighterG
So-Called Expert
"You Are What You Eat."
"Host Gillian McKeith (or to use her full medical title, Gillian McKeith) was an absolute quack with an online medical qualification from a Mickey Mouse university. She pretended to be a scientist by being recorded standing around in a lab wearing a white coat, spouted unscientific nonsense that anyone who had done a GCSE in science could see through, and was obsessed with getting people to shit in Tupperware boxes."
"It got cancelled after the final series when you had to have her move in with you. In the last few years she popped up again as a prominent anti-vaxxer once COVID vaccines became available."
– MattBD
These pageant shows glorifying good looks and talent would never be greenlit today.
Performing Pressure
"Dance moms- used to be entertaining, now all I can see is the psychological effects it must’ve had on those girls."
– KE789
"Americas Next Top Model has to be #1."
"From all the behind the scenes sh*t that went on in production to what the show actually shows. It’s all just horrendous."
– Nickster1619
From Ugly To Beautiful
"The Swan, was 2 women who are considered 'ugly ducklings' participating in a pageant against each other after undergoing a three-month transformative process aka having heaps of plastic surgery."
– twozedzed
Psychological Downer
"Right?! How were they allowed to do so many procedures in such a short time while completely isolating these women from their families? Making them diet and exercise while healing from a tummy tuck, breast implants, and veneers?! The 'therapy' sessions were a joke and were just for show while these poor women with low self esteem were preyed upon for entertainment. Just out of a safety and medical prospective…wow."
– Snoo-8746
Judging The Reflection
"Didn't they also not allow the contestants/patients to have mirrors the whole time so they were surprised when they saw themselves? Psychologically having massive changes like that and it being sudden is extremely bad for your brain, you can end up rejecting the reflection because it's not 'you.'"
– Delouest
As audiences evolve, so does the writing and development of all forms of entertainment.
But because the changes are gradual, it is jarring when looking back and noticing how offensive and isolating some of these shows can be.
Times sure have changed in the world of entertainment–mostly for the better.
Curious to hear experiences from strangers online, Redditor WallStreetDoesntBet asked:
"People who moved out of the parent’s house before 30, how?"
Most people can't afford to live on their own.
Roommate Is Key
"yeah this exactly. I've never lived by myself, was roommates until I got a serious girlfriend and now fiance. There's exactly 0% chance of me being in the same position I'm in financially if I had been paying full rent all those years."
– lick_me_where_I_fart
Not A Care In The World
"I was 17, we had 4 of us in a ghetto 2bd apt (bunkbeds) we had a beer bong on a lanyard screwed to the ceiling. We'd have keggers, party's every weekend and always had randoms crashing on the floor. Could barely afford to feed myself and pay bills but still not a worry in the world and it was the best time of my life."
– ApprehensiveAd6006
One inconvenience shared by many was the sacrifice of a good, home-cooked meal.
Change Of Scenery
"Just needed a little R&R."
"Roommates and Ramen."
– SudoPuff
The "Wild" Years
"This, lol. I was kicked out at 16 and after couch-surfing for a few months I moved into a studio apartment with 4 other people."
"When I say we were poor, I mean poor - most of us didn’t have jobs. I lived off the worst of the worst food. Knockoff ramen. Dollar store canned veg. Rice and terrible year old pasta."
"It was a wild few years."
– Vetiversailles
Rice For Life
"Or rice. I lived off rice for a full year. Fancied it up by adding some salsa, and then extra fancy by also adding ranch dressing."
"Those were hard times."
– Ok_Opinion_
Having work definitely makes things easier.
Saving Up To Leave
"Started working while I was in school. Got out as soon as I could."
– ReallyIdleBones
Not Much Fanfare
"Yep, moved out for college in 2006. Came back for the summer in 2007, but thereafter I got an internship so I just stayed in the city. Got a job at the same place after I graduated."
"It was never some big moment for me (my parents are fine, just annoying), just a natural progression for me."
– Zerole00
Building A Life
"At 18. Worked in construction. Lived on a couch with 6 buddies in one house paying for college. Bought cheap land during the recession. Then built my own house."
– ReubenZWeiner
Not moving out by choice seemed to be a common shared experience.
High Turnover Rate
"Got kicked out at 14. Finished high school sleeping on friends couches while serving tables. Had a ton of roommates for the next 10 years. At any given time I was living with like 3 or 4 people, it was never boring haha"
– herriotact
Different Parenting
"I am hearing that so many people are actually kicked out in the really young age is well."
"But i am not getting that why parents are so tough because in my country they try to keep them under their wings."
– wowoao
Tough Love
"My friends parents were going to kick him out immediately after he graduated high school simply because 'That's what their parents did when they were his age.' His Dad fully expected him to go out at 18 and buy a house because 'he was able to.'"
"Then his Dad got pissed when my friend did not buy a house and went to live with his uncle instead. Even after his uncle broke down the whole 'Your mortgage is $2200/month with taxes and you expect your son, who works part time at $7.25 an hour to afford a mortgage? With no credit history?'"
"Some parents do it out of tough love. Some parents do it because they shouldn't have had children. Some parents still think the world is the same as it was in the 70s-80s and think minimum wage part time employees can thrive."
– bangersnmash13
Placed Expectations
"My parents didn't kick me out, but there was definitely an expectation for me to be moved out and financially independent at 18. My mother walked into a job as a radio DJ at the age of 18 and then became a journalist with only a high school education a few years later (early 1970s), so she had this expectation that I could do the same. The thought of me being able to do anything like that in the 2000s was laughable."
– pie12345678
I moved out of my parents' house because I booked my first professional gig on a cruise ship.
It couldn't have worked out better. I was paid to perform on board in the shows while my rent was already taken care of since I lived and worked on the ship.
I packed one suitcase and traveled the world doing what I loved for about two years. It was the best way to transition into an exciting new chapter in my adolescent life.
What's your moving out story?