This took a lot of courage! I am 35 and have finally reached the point of allowing myself to collect stuffed animals that bring me joy. My recent collections have been Squishmallows. I love the texture of the fabric. I own two Cressidas (a glow in the dark axolotl squishmallow). I actually am neutral towards axolotls in general (neither love nor dislike). I have two Cressidas (on purpose!) because they glow in the dark and I *love* the texture of the glow in the dark paint on the animal. One lives in my bed for sleeps at night (and the glow makes me feel "safe" enough for sleep), and one lives in the living room for pets while I am awake. There are a surprising number of adults who still sleep with a comfort object each night, or still collect soft, squishy things. There's a lot of us who missed that "When you legally become an adult, soft things should no longer provide comfort" memo. You (and anyone else in adulthood collecting figurines, stuffed animals, blankets, "child" toys) are not alone. I think we feel so much shame about this because there was a childhood phase where everyone suddenly felt their childhood toys were "babyish" and there was a lot of peer pressure to give them up. The adult world is much more kind about this kind of thing. If you come out about comfort objects to someone who just doesn't understand, it's easy to back-track: "Oh, I'm just a collector. This is something I like to collect and display on my shelves." "Oh! My friend/sibling brings their kid to my house sometimes, and I want to ensure there is something child-friendly the kids can play with so they don't mess with my things." The other person might surprise you, and you might wind up with another doll, horse, figurine, stuffed animal, blanket, "child" toy, etc.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and thoughts. It's interesting how you mentioned about that peer pressure to give up our beloved childhood toys. That's a real thing. I experienced that in my early to late teens - it was very hard to hear the people around say I needed to give away some of my most favourite things. (I still don't quite understand their reasoning, because I still miss "Froggy", my boggly eyed green frog with the dangly legs and wonder what happened to him or why he was given to my younger cousins.) Yes, sometimes society can really pressure us to have reasons for collecting "children's toys" I've started to practice cognitive re-frames such as: "I am autistic and I enjoy collecting and lining up these items because they bring me joy." because true acceptance comes from understanding and not just spreading awareness. It's so great seeing stories and reading comments like yours from neurodivergent individuals who are unashamed to be their authentic selves. Being true to myself has proved to be really helpful in starting to accept and embrace my own differences. I'm so glad you are able to start collecting things that bring you joy, it makes me smile to know that! 💙🧡💙
Very brave video! It looks like a nice horse. I like a ton of things that are kid related too. I know of a lot of other autistic people that do too. You are not alone in this.
Thank you! Reading comments like yours helps me feel inspired to talk more about these sorts of things. It's so comforting to know that there are other people out there like us!
This took a lot of courage! I am 35 and have finally reached the point of allowing myself to collect stuffed animals that bring me joy. My recent collections have been Squishmallows. I love the texture of the fabric. I own two Cressidas (a glow in the dark axolotl squishmallow). I actually am neutral towards axolotls in general (neither love nor dislike).
I have two Cressidas (on purpose!) because they glow in the dark and I *love* the texture of the glow in the dark paint on the animal. One lives in my bed for sleeps at night (and the glow makes me feel "safe" enough for sleep), and one lives in the living room for pets while I am awake.
There are a surprising number of adults who still sleep with a comfort object each night, or still collect soft, squishy things. There's a lot of us who missed that "When you legally become an adult, soft things should no longer provide comfort" memo. You (and anyone else in adulthood collecting figurines, stuffed animals, blankets, "child" toys) are not alone. I think we feel so much shame about this because there was a childhood phase where everyone suddenly felt their childhood toys were "babyish" and there was a lot of peer pressure to give them up. The adult world is much more kind about this kind of thing.
If you come out about comfort objects to someone who just doesn't understand, it's easy to back-track:
"Oh, I'm just a collector. This is something I like to collect and display on my shelves."
"Oh! My friend/sibling brings their kid to my house sometimes, and I want to ensure there is something child-friendly the kids can play with so they don't mess with my things."
The other person might surprise you, and you might wind up with another doll, horse, figurine, stuffed animal, blanket, "child" toy, etc.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and thoughts.
It's interesting how you mentioned about that peer pressure to give up our beloved childhood toys. That's a real thing. I experienced that in my early to late teens - it was very hard to hear the people around say I needed to give away some of my most favourite things. (I still don't quite understand their reasoning, because I still miss "Froggy", my boggly eyed green frog with the dangly legs and wonder what happened to him or why he was given to my younger cousins.)
Yes, sometimes society can really pressure us to have reasons for collecting "children's toys"
I've started to practice cognitive re-frames such as: "I am autistic and I enjoy collecting and lining up these items because they bring me joy." because true acceptance comes from understanding and not just spreading awareness.
It's so great seeing stories and reading comments like yours from neurodivergent individuals who are unashamed to be their authentic selves. Being true to myself has proved to be really helpful in starting to accept and embrace my own differences. I'm so glad you are able to start collecting things that bring you joy, it makes me smile to know that!
💙🧡💙
Yay! Making content after a long Time!!! I hope it goes well further good luck
Aw, yes! I've got a number of helpful eepisodes in the works. Thanks for watching :)
Very brave video! It looks like a nice horse. I like a ton of things that are kid related too. I know of a lot of other autistic people that do too. You are not alone in this.
Thank you! Reading comments like yours helps me feel inspired to talk more about these sorts of things. It's so comforting to know that there are other people out there like us!