The Case of the Missing Big Bird

On our recent holiday to Singapore, Grace was given a Qantas children's activity pack. It had a Sesame Street theme, and included Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Big Bird and Grover cardboard cut-outs. They became favourite items while we were away, and in the first few days after our return. Then they seemed to disappear.

Last week I was cleaning under the cushions of the sofa, and found two of the characters. Elmo had a foot torn off and was very crumpled, so I put him in the bin. Abby Cadabby looked quite good, so I gave her to Grace.

Big mistake.

Grace immediately began looking for Elmo. After much angst, I "found" Elmo in the bin, and repaired his foot. Then she started looking for Big Bird (thankfully she seems to have forgotten all about Grover).

The first place she wanted to look was, of course, the bin. After all, that's where Elmo was! We then proceeded to turn nearly every room in the house upside down in our search.

Of course, being two years old, and having declined the offer of an afternoon sleep, a 7:00 pm search for a missing toy is never going to end well. Especially when I'm fairly sure that toy was disposed of quite some time ago.

Attempts to get her to sleep failed, as did Daddy's promises to find Big Bird in the morning.

Thankfully, we live near a 24-hour K-mart. I set off in the cold and rain, but returned home victorious.

Hooray! Peace was restored, and Big Bird spent several nights in bed with Grace before being replaced by Upsy Daisy.

Come to think of it, I haven't seen him for a day or two. I'd better start looking now before his absence is noted!