Fluffy Kitty

Ella and Fluffy Kitty roam Arrow Rock during the village's annual Easter egg hunt.

When Ella and Saxon were born, the toys were among those Amanda donated to her new siblings. For whatever reason, Ella immediately bonded with the cat, which was christened "Fluffy Kitty."

The girl and the cat are now inseparable.

Ella won't sit in her high chair unless Fluffy Kitty is tucked in beside her. She can't even think about bedtime without the cat clutched firmly in the crook of her arm.

When Ella and Saxon had to have ear tube surgery, Callie and I had to stay in the waiting room. Fluffy got her own name band around her paw and was by Ella's side right through the procedure. When we met up in the recovery room, Ella and Fluffy shared the bed next to Saxon's while they happily munched on Goldfish crackers.

Fluffy gets admittance to all of Ella's favorite hiding spots and has tagged along on all our family vacations. In fact, Fluffy might have been on more rides at Silver Dollar City than I have this year. When we had our family portrait taken, Fluffy was right there with the rest of us.

But it hasn't always been fun and games. When Ella had a nasty stomach flu earlier this year, dad wasn't the only one "in the line of fire."

Yes, good ol' Fluff has been through a lot in the last two years and the miles are starting to show.

After her first few trips through the washing machine, it became apparent that frequent cleaning would ultimately do more harm than good. Since then, we've been sparing with washings, waiting until Fluffy really, really, really needs it.

As a result, Fluffy Kitty isn't really all that fluffy anymore. Actually, she's not that pink anymore either.

It probably wouldn't be so bad if so many people didn't notice. As I said, Fluffy goes everywhere with us. So everywhere we go we hear "Oh my, what is that?" With a small amount of embarrassment, we explain that -- at least at one time -- it was a cat and that Ella won't part with it.

It's not like we make her play with something that looks like the dog's old chew toy. I mean, really, we have lots of stuffed animals. We have tons of them. I'm not kidding, one whole toy box in our living room is devoted to stuffed animals. Most of them are "like new." She could have her choice, but only Fluffy will do.

And, after this week, I know for certain that there can be no substitute. After scouring the Internet I managed to track down a replacement Fluffy Kitty from the same manufacturer. This cat had everything the original had once had and more: bright pink fur, a shiny new ribbon and clear blue eyes. I placed my order and devised a plan to trick Ella into thinking Kitty had been "cleaned."

Now, as a general rule, I'm not in favor of lying to children. But the old Fluffy Kitty was in serious need of retirement. So we put the plan into action and it worked -- for about five minutes.

And then the imposter Fluffy was discarded and the call went out for the real deal. For a moment I was disappointed, but after further consideration I was proud.

I was proud first that my daughter is no dummy and knows a knock-off when she sees it. But I was even more proud that at two-years-old she knows a tried and true friend is better than a flashy Kitty-come-lately.

That's something we could probably all stand to remember.