Several nights ago my husband and I were putting the kids to bed. All of a sudden Lil Sis said, “I want my Baby Pepper!” Baby Pepper is her lovey– little black stuffed dog.
“Have you seen her?” I whispered to my husband. “I haven’t seen her all day.”
“No, haven’t seen her either.” he whispered back uneasily.
Thankfully I was able to distract Lil Sis with two other beloved stuffed friends, a mommy fox and baby fox just like her big cousin has.
We looked around that evening and over the following days in the house and the car, but Baby Pepper was nowhere to be found. I started wracking my brain to think when was the last time I saw her?
Then I realized, the last time I remembered seeing her was almost a week ago when we went with to Friendly’s with some cousins. We had left the restaurant in a bit of a rush as kids were getting restless. Maybe I forgot Baby Pepper there? It was a late night realization so the next morning I called the restaurant.
“Have you seen a little black stuffed dog?” I asked hopefully to the guy on the other end of the line. He asked the other staff if they were working on Sunday (the day we went) and had seen the dog in question.
No one had.
“I lost my son’s little snuggly lamb once.” said the guy on the other end of the line. “I let it fall out of the stroller in a store and my wife never let me forget it even to this day. My son is six years old now!”
I appreciated the commiseration, but it was no real comfort for me. I left my name and number just in case Baby Pepper did turn up.
After not seeing Baby Pepper for over a week I started searching online to see if I could find a replacement. I didn’t know if Lil Sis would go for it, but I had to try. She was asking about Baby Pepper more and more often but each time I just redirected her to something else.
I found a look alike online, and asked my husband if he agreed that I should order it. “Let’s wait until tonight ,” he said.
We forgot to talk about it later that night. But, as we returned home from music class this morning, Lil Sis reached down and picked up Baby Pepper from the middle of the hallway! She was so happy! She gave her beloved friend a big long hug, and cooed “Baby Pepper! I found Baby Pepper!”
Oh what a relief! I’m glad I didn’t order that replacement. Turns out my husband found Baby Pepper squished in between our bed and the floor. I don’t know when or how she got there, but boy am I glad she came back.
Yes! great story! i had blankie when i was very little. my mother kept it and gave it to me when henry was born. blankie is now called “bada” and he has had it since he was born. it has holes in it and is falling apart. but he loves it…even at 6. when we lived in chicago, he chucked bada out of his stroller onto the city street. it wasn’t until we were at a bookstore later and we realized bada wasn’t in the stroller. i started panicking…not for my son but for me…that was my blanket when i was a baby..clearly i was still attached in some respects. my husband darted out of the store and made his way back thru the streets and bada was on a street corner. i’ll never forge that day! needless to say, bada has never been lost since.
Hi Gretchin! thank you for your comment. So sad that someone stole your lovey when you were little. Despicable!
We have also started a policy where loveys have to stay at home and preferably in the kids’ beds so they are available at bedtime without fuss or frantic searches.
I lost my cherished teddy bear when I was about 5 years old. We tucked it in my baby sister’s stroller and left the stroller outside while we all went into a gas station. When we came out, Teddy was gone. Someone stole him. I still search for him occasionally. He had some defining features — including a little blue dot on his belly where I colored him with markers.
My dad is still angry about it and can’t even talk about it without getting upset. Who would take a child’s stuffed animal?
I never quite recovered and won’t let my daughter leave the house with any of her cherished lovies. Though they go missing a lot, I always know they’re in our home somewhere — more for my security than hers, I’m sure! And we have “travel” lovies that I let her take out of the house. Crazy much? I’m scarred for life. Haha!