Missing Cross

This morning, Charlotte's beloved cross went missing. I looked around in all of the usual spots where it tends to hide- behind the curtains, under the couch, beside the TV- but it was not to be found. We had to make a trip to Starke today, which had to be made with some lovey substitutes. She has a pink bunny that her Uncle Chad & Auntie Amber gave her and a teddy bear that came with a bouquet of flowers that Jared gave me back in the day (when he was wooing me:) that she has laid claim to, and they are often carried around the house with the cross and her favorite blanket. She did okay on the trip but when we got home was quite distressed as she was searching around the house for the cross. That led to a fussier than usual afternoon (which led to a grumpy mama!).

Shortly before bedtime, Jared and I began the search for the cross. We looked everywhere. In every cabinet, every drawer, underneath every piece of furniture, behind furniture, inside furniture, in the fridge and freezer, in the pantry, in the toybox, in every closet. Our house only has so many places where a toddler could have put it. No hidden nooks or crannies. We searched high and low in every possible place it could be. Or so we thought. It was, of course, in a place that we both walked by about 20 times.

She had stuffed it into a lunchbox that was laying in the floor in the living room. I suppose if we were cleaning up as we were searching we might have found it. It was in the area where we toss her things that are to be taken to her room, so I guess we didn't think to look inside it, we just looked around it at the other toys, saw no cross and moved along. We searched for that thing for at least 30 minutes.

Here is Charlotte, after the cross has been found, mocking her Mommy and Daddy in their "hunting" position.


Thank you, Uncle Aaron and Aunt Brittany, for the gift of the cross for her first Christmas. She clings to that thing like we should all cling to the real Cross.