On Valentine's night my 6 year old realized she had lost Ollie's ring.
She was certain she'd taken it off at the kitchen table after school when all four children had opened 25 Valentines (that's 100 if you're counting.)
My kitchen table was a catastrophe so my husband told them to clean it up. They threw out half the stuff, recycled half the stuff and put the rest (yes I'm a math major) back in their "mailboxes" (aka decorated paper bags.)
I feared the worst - that the ring had been thrown out.
To find it I moved EVERY SINGLE thing from the trash to another trash bag - this includes EACH greenbean that my husband threw out today - maybe 100 of them. At one point, as I was digging through garbage my 6 yo said to me, "I feel SO BAD FOR YOU right now." I glared at her and dropped a green bean.
"Can you get that?" I asked. "NO WAY." she answered. I glared again so she went over, grabbed a paper towel and picked it up using the paper towel as a shield. She is a diva. The ring was not in the trash.
My husband had had the kids put the newspaper (and valentine card envelope) recycling into paper bags to be taken to the paper recycling place. There were 6 of them. I dumped each one out and wen through every scrap of paper. The ring was not in the recycling.
I swept EVERY SINGLE Lego/crumb/crayon/etc out from under the baseboard in my kitchen. The ring was not in the kitchen.
Nor was it in my daughter's school bag, the bathroom, on the kitchen counter, etc.
My Aunt Edie (great aunt actually) always had a knack for finding things. She died in 1982 but whenever I need help finding something I ask her for help and it works. So I did. I looked up and said, "Can you PLEASE help me find Ollie's ring?" Then I walked into the living room and it was shining in the middle of the floor.
My husband thinks that I should have walked in there before I dug through the trash. I think that I had to earn the right to find it by being willing to do almost anything.
I dont know which one of us is right but it doesn't matter.
To tell you the truth I didnt look for Ollie's ring for my daughter. I looked for it for Ollie. I didn't want him to think that he had been that sweet and she hadn't cared enough to keep it safe.
Now I dont know if I should give it back to her!
Might be to big for her finger. Green beans no longer sound appealing.
Posted by: katzmeow | February 18, 2013 at 11:44 AM
Stopping by your blog for the first time...through Twitter! I am looking forward to reading regularly! Cheers, Tara :)
Posted by: Tara @ I'm Fit Possible | February 18, 2013 at 06:04 PM
Since parenthood, my wedding ring has been an adventure. After an infected small cut beneath the ring, I'm very careful to take off my ring any time I'm washing my hands - but, at night, there are times that I won't put it back on, leaving it on my bedside table. or, sometimes, I'll take it off when I'm in my man-cave/basement. And when I'm cooking, I always take it off. Most every time, I'm always able to find it with minimal looking.
However, several months ago, it went missing. When I was upstairs, I'd look in the regular places and then think it's downstairs. When I was downstairs, I'd think the same. After about two months, I gave up, went on eBay, and found a replacement ring.
The day the replacement ring came, Leila came wandering into the nursery, playing with the ring. We still have no idea where she found it, but she's turned into our "if it's lost, let her find it" person. Though, to be fair, she loses a fair bit of stuff all on her own.
Posted by: DaddyRunsALot | February 19, 2013 at 08:44 AM
Should have her go through the trash - she lost it.
Posted by: joeinvegas | February 19, 2013 at 11:21 AM