Bear's Missing

It's Sunday at 8:30 pm and the boys are cranky and tired.  We're winding down and getting everyone dressed and ready for bed.  Innocently enough, Cullen asks, "where's my Bear?"  To which Jim and I always reply, "where did you leave him?"  Asking a three year old where he left something is pretty futile, even if he did remember where he left it, he probably doesn't have the wherewithal to realize that we're about to go on a Bear-hunt (our equivalent of a man-hunt) and that he should speak up... NOW!

Five minutes into the search, Cullen is lounging on the floor, asking Jim, Arden and I if we've "looked under the couch."  "Yes," we say, prompting him to join in... he doesn't take us up on he offer.  10 minutes go by, no Bear.  15, 20, 25 minutes go by; no freakin' Bear.  We've looked everywhere.  In the bathroom, in the laundry room, behind every door and in every moving box that is strewn about our living room- no Bear.  Jim, Arden and I are getting desperate, Cullen is getting annoyed; why's this taking so long?

"Megan, " I ask, considering this a long-shot, "did you or Zeta or Joseph take Cullen's Bear with you when you left tonight?"  Nothing but laughter.  We're realizing that we've got a problem... it's worse than we originally thought, Bear is missing.

Sensing that things aren't going well, Cullen is starting to seem alarmed, "Mom! Where's Bear?!  I can't sleep without Bear!"  He's almost considering getting up to help, I mean it's has been 30 minutes and now he's realizing that we need all hands on deck around here.  I'm starting to think that he's either been inadvertently thrown away, or that he's been stowed away, because that's something a three year old would do.  On a total hunch, I walk over, pop the lid to his garbage truck and there he is, Bear all smashed in there, looking happy as ever to see us.

"Cullen, did you put your Bear in the garbage truck?"  "Oh yeah," he says, finally connecting the dots, "that's where I put him."  Moral of the story: check the places that you're sure a favorite toy or stuffed animal absolutely cannot be, because that's exactly where you're gonna find them.