Security Blanket

OK OK  I know what your thinking.  Why would your superhuman daughter need a Blankey!  Well that's what I'm thinking.  Yes she can't part ways with a certain blanket.  My Angel has a baby blanket that looks and sometimes smells like a homeless blanket.  When my daughter was a baby my ex and I bought a lovely pink blanket.  This blanket had such a pretty pink design and was so soft like a plush teddy.  We would lay her down on the blanket to nap or just to play on the ground.  When she learned to crawl she would find the blanket and take her own little nap.  Back then I thought wow how cute she loves that blanket.  We knew she loved that blanket so much that we bought 2 more.  One extra one for the house and one for the in-laws.  Too bad those blankets are still lonely.  Angel knew even at 1 the difference between her Blankey and the imposter blankets.  She would cry if she didn't have her blanket for a nap and for bedtime.  She started insisting that we bring that blanket everywhere even in the grocery store you know just in case she wanted to nap while I was shopping.  So Fast Forward to now not much has changed.  She still needs her Blankey to sleep.  She will turn 5 soon and I'm contemplating with how to break her from this habit.  Really I think I have 2 options:  #1. Just "lose" it and hear her cry for the next month or #2. Wait until this Blankey disintegrate into a black heap of dust.  I choose the #2.  If I somehow "lose" the Blankey I know I would have to lie to my Angel.  I just don't want to do that.  Somehow I see that Blankey as a symbol of her pure innocence.  I don't want her to lose that so she can Keep her Stinky Blankey!