Hi

i've just read mr floppity's holiday and i have a question. do you ever think other people think ure sad coz u take a soft toy friend places with u? I have a toy bulldog who i call Doggy (very orignal isn't it?) and when i go to sleepovers and stuff i always take him with me and i think my friends are laughing at me behind my back.what do you think? should i care so much about what other people think about me??

love
Red Flame

P.S i love your site

A small stuffed unicorn accompanied me to college when I was nineteen or twenty. I'd pull it out and arrange it with my text books while studying. I think it was mainly for the shock value but can't really remember if there was a reason for my behaviour. Otherwise it rode around in my bookbag.
It also took a trip to Edmonton for the weekend if I remember correctly. I think it's currently living in a carboard box along with 90% of my belongings.



Taking a stuffed animal on a sleepover doesn't sound too odd to me. Taking it to school or the mall might be.

I'm 18 and I played with my stuffed toys today. AND I have a girlfriend. Heh, that means I'm not sad.

I still bring my stuffed dog to sleep overs! I usally just get a bunch of "Awww. That's so cute. Where'd you get him?"

When I was a little younger, I used to walk around with his head sticking out of the top of my backpack.

Mr Floppity came on holiday with us firstly on the suggestion of my girlfriend, secondly because I thought it might be fun to pose him in places and takes photos, and only thirdly because I thought it would make a good webpage.

Bascially, he came along purely for a bit of fun for my girlfriend and I, not because either of us wouldn't feel comfortable travelling without a stuffed toy. We've been on many holidays before without soft toys, it just seemed a good idea this time.

This said, he is ridiculously cute, both of us have conversations with him (the other person provides the responses and the movements) and he does sit on the sofa with us. I think we're more endeared to him because he was a lost toy to begin with.

As for your questions: do people think I'm sad for playing with a cuddly toy? Not really, and if they do then its their problem. They all know that I'm basically a very silly individual so there's no problem there.

Are your friends laughing behind your back? Well, it depends what kind of friends they are. If they are decent friends who accept that sometimes you're a bit silly and have a cutesy side then probably not. If they are ones that are concerned overly about what other people thing then they might be doing that in an effort to make themselves seem more acceptable to others. Unfortunately, people will often say nasty things if they think that it will make them more popular with others.

Should you care so much what others think? Now there's a tough question. The simple answer is 'no', but that doesn't cover everything. I'm pretty much without too many problems about what other people think of me, but I'd be lying to say that it doesn't cross my mind. Perhaps the imoprtant words in your question are 'so much'. No, you shouldn't care so much that it troubles you, but it's an unwise person who is not mindful of the way that others see them. Whether you choose to change because of the views of others is another matter, but the way that others see you can often be influential on your life, especially while you are a teenager.

I'd love to tell you that the views of others don't mean a thing, and by your late twenties they probably won't: you'll either have friends who accept you for everything that you are or you won't care what they think any more. Sadly, during your teenage years and early twenties the views of others can be quite a powerful influence on us. the choice really is yours whether you choose to do what you want or to go your own way. Personally I'd suggest doing what you want and saying 'stuff you' to anyone who thinks you're silly for doing so, but that takes quite a lot of willpower and I completely understand that it's not a path for everyone.

Speaking of willpower: when you signed up for my forum you agreed to use correct English punctuation and grammar to the best of your ability, so could you try and type the full version of words and use capitalisation please?

I have a blue kangaroo, who is very cute. My girlfriend thinks he's adorable, so she is currently in possession of him. We take him out places, and yeah, some people look at us funny, but our friends like him, and only tease me good naturedly.

One question: Mata, on page three of Mr. Floppity, you have, at the top of the page, links to page two and page three. Is that supposed to be that way, or should it be page one and page two?

Good point. I've changed the links.

I have a 3ft stuffed toy lizard named Borris that I brought in Majorca, mainly because it was stupidly cute. It was also fun to watch the face of the x-ray machine operator in the airport as a giant lizard shaped blob came up on their screen.

Cand and I almost brought a life sized stuffed goblin we saw in a shop at the Glasgow meet too but when we went back the shop was closed.

Maybe I just like to confuse people.

Hi (again),

Thanks everyone for being so helpful, I never thought I would get so many replies! But now I have another confession to make. Not only do I have my Doggy but I also have a blanket which I've had since I was a baby, I sleep with it every night and tell it all my thoughts. Now I would never take it to a sleepover but is that me caring too much again? Or should I hide the fact I still have a blanket?

Love

Red Flame

P.S i am 14

One of my cousins who is 12 still has a blanket, and she doesn't look like giving it up any time soon.

Yeah,

I don't think that I will give mine up ever.

P.S I have the same birthday a Bob Marley (6th Feb)

I've been using the same blanket for years, but not because I care about it, just because it's so damn comfortable! I have some stuffed toys, two Sylvester The Cat's. My mom gave me a stuffed one over a decade ago before she left and I still have it. She gave me another one when she decided to track us down a few years ago. There's also a stuffed lizard I found in a parking lot. I felt sorry for the little guy, all alone in the cold, so I decided to adopt him, lol.

Hi,

Do you think that LGG had a childhood toy? A cat that spat fire? Or a buffalow that farted the batman theme tune?mmmmmmmmmmm. What do you think?

I still have all my teddies from when I was young. I never took them anywhere, especially not on planes, just in case anything happened and they got lost.

Until not that long ago; I could hardly sleep in my bed; it being taken over my various stuffed animals of diffrent sorts.

I ended up having to move them all to be able to fit in my bed. But I still have a few resting in my bed; including a plaid teddy bear with zippers and a choaker; who i won in a claw game after using 3 dollars worth of quarters.

And I'll bet LGG did/does (?) have some sorta pet. Evil at it's best. I do like the idea of a buffalow farting the batman theme song; ingenious I would say.

I think that the buffalow was taken away from LGG by some sort of lobster with a feather boa which clearly she detroyed.

I have quite a lot of cuddly stuffed tigers with sad eyes. I feel guilty for leaving them on the floor sometimes because their eyes make them seem so miserable, so they live on my bed and pillows scattered throughout the room. I got my first one for Christmas when I was less than a year old and I've slept with one nearly every night since. I don't carry them everywhere, but I flail around and hit things in my sleep if I'm not holding a stuffed tiger. Force of habit, I suppose, and they're just too darn cute to give up.

I am 15. I have an absolute army of stuffed toys, as well as my tattered baby blanket that I can hardly sleep without.

I have blankets, but I've never been very attached to any of them for some reason. I guess I never had a special one when I was a baby.