I've been dating my boyfriend for two and a half years now, but I've had my baby blanket for almost 23 so what's the actual commitment here?I'm just a simple girl living a hectic, stressful life, pretending each day I know what the hell I'm doing when in all actuality I'm taking it day by day.

Nothing manages to calm me more than coming home from work or school and cuddling in bed with my blankey.

Sure, it's probably strange to people who have never had an emotional attachment to an inanimate object, but to the people that have- we find comfort in this thing. The smell, feel, texture, look and overall presence gives us a certain level of comfort that regular, everyday people just can't.

I've had days where I've worried so much about a test or workday that I've hidden my blankey in my purse for moral support. Throughout the day, you'd see me take this ratty thing out of my purse and just hold it to my face while smelling it, and I can't explain the immediate relief that ran through me.

And for the people who want to test my seriousness.

No, you can't pay me any amount of money to "burn," "pitch," or "give away" my blankey. He is mine and isn't up for sale.

Yes, HE has a gender. I have nothing more to say about the matter-find a way to deal with it.

I don't care how old HE looks, he has been with me through every stage of my life, so the rips, stains, and giant holes won't make me ever feel like it's time for him to retire from his permanent job of being my very best friend.

The other day I was laying in bed, getting ready to go to sleep and I did my normal "pat around in the dark to locate my blankey" and had a mini heart attack when I couldn't find him. My boyfriend watched me amazed as if I wasn't justified in feeling out of sorts. Maybe to people who don't grow up with something special (every day of their life) they can't feel the same connection to something that seems so little.

There won't ever be a day where I sleep comfortably without my blankey. I've accepted that. Can you?

And boyfriend... sweet, naive boyfriend... don't think I'll ever stop looking for him before bed in a hectic state of mind because I "misplaced" him after one too many glasses of wine. You'd be surprised what a completely normal thing leaving him in the snack drawer actually is for me.

I don't care if I'm going away for a week, a weekend, or one night, the first thing I pack is my blankey, so always make sure, sweet boyfriend of mine, that there is extra room in our suitcase just for him.

It's not weird I still sleep with my childhood blanket and no I won't care at all when "my kids outgrow their blanket before their mom." Hopefully, if I raise them right, they'll find comfort in them just like I did.

If you boyfriends want some good advice, get yourself a blankey. Don't ask questions, some things are better off unanswered. Just trust me on this one, you won't regret it.

I read once that: "I do have a tendency to invest inanimate objects with human qualities" and nothing has ever applied more to my life than reading that simple, yet very true thing. I consider it a blessing, not a curse.

I hope to give everything to my children one day. I'd give them the clothes off my back, and even the last few French fries left in the bag, but when it comes to my baby blanket? They'll just have to get their own.