I spent the day today helping a friend out, while another friend helped me out by watching AJ for me. It was a long but fulfilling day. I arrived home a few minutes after my big kids had gotten home from school. As I was unloading the car, a slightly frantic 8-year-old voice called out from the front door:

“Mom! I think I lost Doug!”

Uh Oh, I thought. It was a horrible idea to let him take his precious Doug to school for “Bring a stuffed friend to school day.” Doug is reminds me of the Velveteen Rabbit. Twizzler can’t sleep without him at night. He is tucked under his arm whenever he is at play, and he sits in a special spot to wait for Twizzler while he is gone to school. Every once in a while Doug gets lost in the shuffle of toys and games, and it is always a panicked few moments while we search the house.

But lost somewhere between home and school….now that’s another story. Twizzler and I somberly set out towards the school, hopeful that we could find his dog. We chatted about where he had had Doug during the day and where he might be now. And then, set against the snowy school yard in the distance, I spotted his brown fur ball. Doug, sitting in the clean snow, safe and untouched. Twizzler ran to retrieve him, hugged him to warm him up, and then stashed him away in his favorite spot: between his shirt and his jaket, zipped up tight.

I noticed a difference in his step right away. He was skipping his way home.

And then he turned around and said, “Mom, I said a prayer before we left. I prayed that we’d find him quickly.”

Ahh. Warms my heart.

What is it about a special stuffed friend? I can’t even imagine what my boy would do with a real dog.