When the Morello family home began to feel the winter chill in December, mom of four Laney Morello put a space heater in her son’s room.
And thus, a beautiful friendship was born.
“I think he really loves the sound it makes when it turns on,” Laney says of 18-month-old Elio’s obsession with the heater. “It beeps when you turn it on and it beeps every time you adjust it.”
Elio named the heater Jeff. Or at least that’s what his mom thinks.
“It’s possible that it was just a syllable that he was saying, but it sounds like ‘Jeff’ when he says it,” Laney tells TODAY.com. “I would plug it in and turn the button on, and he’d go, ‘Jeff!'”
These days, Elio and Jeff are inseparable.
“He would love to take it with him everywhere. He’ll drag it around the house,” Laney says. “He spends a lot of time trying to plug it in, which we try to not let him do. But even if it’s not plugged in, he still likes to have it nearby because I think he just has become a fan of it now.”
(Not to worry, the Morellos adhere to strict safety rules around the heater. In fact, they are so serious about safety that one of their daughters had a safety-themed birthday party. True story.)
When the Morellos went on vacation to visit relatives, Elio looked for Jeff every day. “He was very, very happy to come home and see Jeff,” Laney says. “They reunited. And it was very sweet.”
Her video of Elio’s longing for his best buddy earned over 3 million views on Instagram.
Jeff’s electronic family has recently expanded.
“There’s Larry, which is a handheld little dust buster. Larry’s been more trouble than he’s worth, though, because the battery does not last very long, and he’s not fun if he’s not turned on,” Laney says.
Jeff’s inner circle also includes Bucky the robot vacuum and an unnamed salad spinner with pom poms inside.
Elio’s obsession didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. Laney’s husband Justin was into appliances when he was young — plus their three older daughters enjoy naming inanimate objects. For example, they call their house Goby and their car Bertha.
Laney adores Elio’s quirky friendship with his space heater while it lasts. “I think kids can just be kids, and they can be into weird stuff.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
- These Brave Parents Named Their Child Karen. They Stand By It
- Routines, Screen Time and More Parenting Tips From a Therapist
- What’s The Toughest Role in Parenting? And Why Do Moms Always Tackle It?
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