La boîte à dodo: taking the edge off of time apart

A few years ago, I visited my dear friend François at his home in Paris; at the time he was keeping his granddaughter while her parents were away.  I noticed a small jar with tiny rocks on the counter, and asked François what it was. “La boîte à dodo,” he replied. The story has stayed with me, and in a very sweet way, it helps with taking the edge off of time apart when you miss someone.  

The French word boîte means “box,” and dodo is a childlike word for “sleep” or “nap.”  Therefore, la boîte a dodo is a box of sleep.  The stones represent how many nights his granddaughter would sleep by herself until her parents returned.  It’s a comfort for French children, and, when my boyfriend left for Paris a month ago, I knew it would be difficult for me to subdue the pangs before I joined him.

So I created my own little boîte a dodo using a jar I found in a thrift store and a bunch of pretty rocks that I’ve been prone to collecting over my years of travel.  Each night, I take another rock out, and each night I’m comforted by the decreasing numbers.

You can make your own boîte à dodo with anything; my boyfriend uses Lifesavers in a wine glass when I’m away, and for this trip has been coiling a piece of copper armature wire.  It’ll make a nice art piece when he’s done with it.  Any container will do, held with anything you can think of – from feathers to chocolates, pennies to little hand-written quotes – making one for yourself, your children or as a gift for a friend is a wonderfully simple (and inexpensive) way to take the edge off of time apart.