>Queen and Diet Coke

>The concept of loveys has always been a foreign one in this house. Punky has an overabundance of dolls and stuffed animals, but she’s never had one she favored over all the others. Bruiser takes almost no notice of stuffed toys. Several months ago, I was happy to see that he’d taken a temporary liking to Punky’s baby dolls, but I quickly realized that as soon as he was finished hugging on one of them, he was likely to throw it across the room as hard as he could.

Neither of my kids have ever requested to sleep with a special doll or stuffed animal. But both of them have become strangely attached to other inanimate objects.

When Punky was two, her older sister received a set of rubber iPod holders for her birthday. Punky quickly appropriated them and carried them with her everywhere, including into her crib. She treated them all like tiny dolls, making them play, fight, eat and sleep. The phase was a short one, but it was so weird that I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.

For his part, Bruiser is absolutely lost without his set of cars from the movie, Cars. Specifically with Lightning McQueen and Dinoco, which are known in this house (thanks to Bruiser) simply as “Queen” and “Diet Coke.”

Bruiser is rarely seen without Queen in one hand and Diet Coke in the other. If he can entice a family member into playing with him, Diet Coke is handed over. Never Queen. Queen is the sole property of my son.

At least five times a day, Bruiser stops what he’s doing, throws up his hands and says, “Where Queen?” or “Where Diet Coke?” or worst of all, “Where Queen and Diet Coke?” A frantic house-wide search ensues until the two cars are located and Bruiser’s good humor can be restored.

Realizing the likelihood of Queen being permanently lost at some point, Hubs and I took the kids to Target over the weekend and bought another identical Queen so that we’d have an extra. Somehow, Bruiser got hold of it before we could even get it home. Now, he has two Queens to maintain. Two Queens to find every time they get lost.

Oh, joy.

I suppose this is what happens when you have a child who is obsessed with cars, and obsession certainly isn’t too strong of a word when it comes to Bruiser. His sole interest lies in anything with wheels (well, anything with wheels and Mickey Mouse). When he meets a man, he sticks out his chest and says, “Cars! Trucks! Trucks! Cars!” in a gravelly voice. Hubs isn’t a car man, and we’ve both marveled at the way Bruiser has gravitated naturally to cars (and Punky to horses) without either of their parents having any say in the matter.

But man, I wish Bruiser’s new loveys were a little bigger and less likely to get sandwiched in between seat cushions or under a crib or behind a cabinet. I’m thinking about having GPS trackers installed in Queen and Diet Coke, just to save my sanity.

This post originally appeared on Parents.com.