Hasses aren't only avocados.

Pater: A girl's best friend

Posted by Pater , Sunday, March 14, 2010 10:32 PM

Marilyn Monroe thought diamonds are a girl's best friend. She obviously didn't have a teething child when she sang that. If she had, the song would have been "Sophie is a Girl's Best Friend". Sophie who? Sophie the Giraffe, obviously. Toy extraordinaire and your best (inanimate) friend in the whole wide world.

Simply put, Sophie is a gift from the gods, a saviour on par with Joan of Arc, Mother Theresa and Madonna.

Not that the friendship was instant. Like many of history's greatest "besties", it started in enmity and when Mater first introduced Sophie, you threw her to the floor like a model in a tantrum. You much preferred to suck on the feet of the toy hanging from your car seat. And why would you like Sophie - she is made of grainy rubber, is painted with a rather putrid shade of brown and isn't like any of the your other mass produced, colourful, beeping, shiny, ADD-inducing toys.

Pater initially shared your distrust. The toy came from France after all. Sophie the Giraffe (AKA Sophie La Girafe) was created in France in 1961. Apparently over 20 million babies have fallen under this French spell. But not my Avocado Jr. As if it wasn't bad enough that the toy was made in France, the manufacturers decided to put Sophie's squeaker near her bum. Quelle domage!

But we didn't consider the First Time Mater (FTM) factor. Simply put, FTMs are scared to death of getting it wrong and will follow any and all conventional wisdom as laid down by baby books, mummy blogs, girlfriends, sisters and, OF COURSE, grandmothers. And conventional wisdom says that Sophie is the toy of choice for a teething baby. So what's a bit of Francophobia in the face of so much FTM pressure?

So we caved...um, I mean, you caved. Okay, I admit it, I too like Sophie's cute freckles, smiley face and the way your teething-whines disappear the moment you stick Sophie's legs into your mouth. I'm still not too sure about Sophie's three friends, Chan, Pie and Gnon (Champignon - mushroom) which are odd looking to say the least.

But with Mater and the FTM factor, never say never. But until then you seem happy to gurgle, "Viva La Girafe!"