This technically isn’t specific to parenthood but definitely something parents will resonate with! Such sweet stories (lots in the comments) about losing and finding beloved plush toys.
Post yours/your children’s if you have any!
[name_m]Even[/name_m] if it’s not a toy- there are treasured possessions that it’s hard to get over losing at any age. Like my favourite shawl, because of the story behind it.
Here’s mine, sort of:
I left my stuffed grey dolphin, ever-so-creatively (not!) named Dolphina, in an airport washroom when I was nine years old. I remember crying and my mum calling the airport to try to recover her, but no luck. I think I got over it fairly quickly and actually forgot about it until now… But even after I lost her I guess I didn’t really forget Dolphina though since my sister and I play-acted our stuffed animals and still included her.
When I was four or five years old, we were playing a game of “hide and seek” or “hot or cold” or something along those lines with inanimate objects at my babysitter’s house. When it was my turn, I hid my beloved stuffed bear who I took everywhere with me. The game was interrupted for lunch or something, and by the time we got back to it, I’d forgotten where I’d hidden him! We searched high and low and couldn’t find him. There were tears.
Four years later, my babysitter was cleaning out her basement when her vacuum made a funny sound and we heard an “OH!” And there he was, half stuck in the vacuum cleaner, looking like a big fluffy dust bunny. I remember the sheer joy of playing with him again, even though I could barely remember playing with him in the first place (save for that traumatic moment of losing him!). He still sits on my bookshelf to this day, waiting to play with my future children. 