What Is A Yaya?

The term “yaya” was coined by my son Albert. That is what he has always called blanket never a blanket or a blankey. Any time he wanted his blanket, this it what we would hear…

“Yaya, yaya”

I can still see that little face and the outstretched hands asking for it. The yaya started off as simply as a baby blanket. It was the first blanket we bought for Albert and all the kids as they were still in the hospital. It was that original blanket, the one wrapped around him in the crib and when we were holding him. The one that tucked him into bed at night. As he grew, the blanket became much more than a blanket, it was his security, his source of comfort. Now, don’t get me wrong, he’s no Linus, he did not carry it with him all day to and from school or feel sick without it. However, when lying down, when in need of a nap, it was always there. In fact, it did become a necessity for sleep. To go to sleep at night, the yaya must be present.

There are other terms for the yaya, and various other forms — blankey, binkey, woobie, etc., but the yaya is specific. In fact, it has become vernacular in our home as no one has ever since referred to their 1st blanket as anything other than yaya. In fact, when my daughters were born and Albert was talking, their blankets became yayas too. To this day, that’s how they are referred to, by each child to their blanket. It was to me what would have been a stuffed animal as a child, that thing you clung to at night, that calming source, that trusted companion. All the time I would surmise, reminding them of being held securely in their mother’s arms. That blanket, that comfort, that feeling…… THAT is a yaya.