The world is scary, so we all tend to find comfort in various places. From connections with people to substance abuse to certain items—to each their own.
A woman from today's story found comfort in a baby blanket from her childhood. Until, one day, her boyfriend decided to take it away, saying she needed to "wean off" of it. Yet, his action caused way more pain than good—both for the woman and their relationship. In fact, it caused her so much pain that she likely won't ever forget such emotional abuse.
More info: Reddit
We all have something that brings us comfort—whether it's a person, an item, or anything else—to each their own
Image credits: rawpixel.com / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The woman from today's story found comfort in a baby blanket from her childhood
Image credits: Drazen Zigic / Freepik (not the actual photo)
She liked to cuddle with it when she felt stressed or anxious, as its smell and texture calmed her down
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Then, one day, her boyfriend decided to secretly take her blanket away
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
He didn't like the fact that a grown woman was depending on such an item and wanted her to cut her habit out
Image credits: itty_bitty_spidy
Instead of working, his action caused immense pain and grief for the woman to the point where her family had to interfere
Despite being 26 years old, the OP had a baby blanket that she liked to cuddle with ever since she was, well, a baby. She claimed that it calmed her stress and anxiety, as she found comfort in its smell and texture.
Well, she isn’t the only person in the world who has a comfort item—many people do. It’s their emotional anchor with nice memories and associations that make them feel at least a little bit better in this scary world.
In fact, baby blankets quite often tend to be a choice for emotional support items grown-ups have. Apparently, these blankets are often given to kids during transitional periods, when they are being taught to accept the unfamiliar parts of life and the world. Or, in other words, when they are growing up. Since these blankets are used as a source of comfort, for some, they remain such even after a kid grows up.
The OP is one of these people. Yet, her boyfriend isn’t. In his opinion, her baby blanket is gross, and her habit of cuddling with it is too weird and childish. So, wanting to force her out of this habit, he decided to take her baby blanket and hide it, justifying the action as being for “her own good.”
Clearly, he was wrong, as nothing good came out of his decision. When the woman realized she couldn't find her prized possession, she couldn’t stop crying, which was a normal reaction. Grieving over an object that you have an emotional attachment with, which she definitely did in this case, is understandable, even if it might seem trivial for some.
The fact that her boyfriend dismissed her feelings and kept calling it an “unhealthy obsession” only made things worse. No matter how much she begged him to give her back her possessions, he didn’t—and he only kept encouraging her to “wean off” of the habit.
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The woman was so distraught over the loss that she didn’t have any motivation to do anything. Remember when we said that it’s common to grieve the loss of prized possessions? Well, a loss of purpose is one of the more ordinary signs of grief, proving just how attached the woman was to her blanket.
Granted, she later clarified that her life doesn’t revolve around said blanket—she can function fine without it, but it used to give her comfort when she needed it. So, losing something like that took a toll on her. When she tried to explain that to her boyfriend, he brushed it off by saying something along the lines of, “Life sucks, deal with it.”
At some point, the situation got so bad that the OP’s parents got involved. They were extremely worried about her and asked her to reevaluate her relationship—leave him, but it would be best to do it slowly so he doesn’t freak out. Being so dismissive of a partner's feelings of such a strong nature because of your silly principles can count as emotional abuse.
After some time, the man ended up giving the baby blanket back. Yet, that didn't change the fact that the experience borderline traumatized his girlfriend. After all, she was not only grieving a prized possession but was also learning how negligent her significant other was—and that’s a lot to handle at once.
At least the netizens were empathetic towards her, which, throughout the continuous updates, was probably a saving grace for her. It's always nice to learn that someone is on your side, isn’t it?
Whose side of this debate are you on? Share your take with us in the comments!
In the end, he gave the blanket back to her, but the damage was already done, and in the netizens' eyes, this damage shouldn't be forgiven
