The Quest for Ted Bear

Like many 3-year olds out there, my son has a favorite carry-along friend. It's a combination small blanket, teddy bear thing (pictured above) that came from one of our good friends a few months after our son was born. It's basically a teddy bear; however, our son refers to it as "Ted Bear." It's no "Woobie," as those who have seen Mr. Mom will recall, but it's important to our son's psyche and he often calls for it when he's hurt himself or if he's really upset.

It's also a vital enough object that we rarely let it leave the house; even if it does make the car, we try to leave it in there if we go somewhere. Rarely has it been lost and only then, it's usually just been buried somewhere inside the house.

Today, we returned home from some Christmas Eve family activities and Ted was nowhere to be found. We'd been at church before heading off to the in-law's house and I was convinced our son had been carrying it when we walked out of church. He was asking for it and at 9:30, well past his bedtime, I was a little concerned that Ted was gone.

Called over to the in-laws and it wasn't there. So, I headed back over to the church with little hope that I'd find it but hoping I'd get lucky. Walked into a completely empty facility, bathed in light and silently anticipating the 11 p.m. service that would take place later tonight.

After a quick glance at the lost-and-found box, I headed into the children's play area with little hope that Ted would be there. I glanced in the cubby and found nothing and quickly began figuring out a diversion to use on my son when I returned home empty handed. I figured all was lost when a final look toward the back toy shelves revealed Ted quietly sitting there.

Life was good. A Christmas miracle? Absolutely not. However, it was a nice parental victory and one to savor, at least for a little while.