Our Toy Story 2

Almost 3 years ago, I posted a blog about Our Toy Story, the story of how Brown Lamby came to be part of our family. http://brimmsblogs.blogspot.com/2007/11/our-toy-story.html Now, we have our Toy Story 2. Little Sissy has loved Brown Lamby all this time, never forsaking him for any cheap imitations like Pink Lamby, or even a slightly brown lamby that had previous loved by another child. Over time she has created a voice for him, a personality for him, and a sort of parental love for him. Four weeks ago I went to a Beth Moore Conference on a Friday night. Hubby said she had him at the dinner table, he made her take him somewhere else since he's not allowed at the dinner table, and that's the last they saw of him. She cried a little at bedtime but knew that they would find him the next day. The next day was Saturday, and we stayed in Illinois until bedtime, so she fell asleep in the van before we got home. Sunday night was the first time I even heard of his disappearance. In her bedtime prayer, she thanked God for all the family and added, "And for Brown Lamby, even though he's missing." Then she bravely went to sleep while I scoured the house. Nothing.

I looked in all the "normal" places where we usually lose things--behind beds, in the laundry, under the couch. Still nothing. When she would get sad, we would look at pictures of him; and she started sleeping with his picture.

I certainly never would have picked the timing even if I were ready to start weaning her from Brown Lamby. We were getting ready to go on a trip to Indiana, where she would sleep in an unfamiliar room; then I left for 4 days to go to the 31 National Conference. She was without me, plus she spent 2 nights with Aunt Elissa, also an unfamiliar room. Then right when I got back she started preschool. No, I would have waited until she got through all of those transitions, at least.

We kept telling her how brave she was. And she was. The first week she thought she heard him saying something Brown-Lamby'ish and she just knew we were on the verge of finding him. The second week she had a nightmare that he fell over a cliff and all of us jumped in to save him but none of us could.

The third week she had a nightmare that a monster came and ate Brown Lamby, and she couldn't stop him. I decided I would make her a scrapbook of her and Brown Lamby so she could look at him whenever she missed him.

By the fourth week she was saying things like, "I may never find him, huh? Maybe he's gone forever." I was starting to agree with her, although I figured we would find him eventually--like if we ever moved.

Last night, exactly 4 weeks after his disappearance, I went to get a Redbox movie and the kids were trying to watch their bedtime movie. The DVD player wasn't working, so Hubby moved the entertainment center away from the wall, and guess what was underneath all the wires back there? You guessed it. Little Sissy's BFF, Brown Lamby himself. Hubby texted me and asked what he should do since no one else had seen it. I told him to do nothing and hide all evidence until I got home. Now we're trying to figure out what to do. I know she would be SO happy to see him, and I really don't mind if she gets him back as long as he stays in her room just for sleeping. But she's doing so well without him and I've already started her scrapbook, which she is excited about. I'm comforted just to know that she can survive without him. She's tried and tried to turn Pink Lamby into Brown Lamby, but his tail just doesn't taste the same, she says. :) I know that's true! So the saga continues. We may have Toy Story 3 in another few years.