Carter's Mom

Carter absolutely loves his Elmo. He has had a little Elmo for less than a year now. He wanted it when we bought a birthday gift for one of his classmates. I picked up the cheapest Elmo I could find for him. Little did I know Elmo would become his favorite comfort item. Elmo has taken medicine with Carter and even has had his teeth brushed. Over the summer, we bought Ernie to be Elmo's companion, but Elmo is still the most loved.

When we went to Atlanta, Elmo went with us, of course. Kevin made sure Elmo was packed in a bag before we left. When we were on the way home, Carter started asking for Elmo. We pulled over and searched the car for it.....no Elmo. We called Gammy and Poppa to see if maybe they had it by mistake.....no Elmo. The only thing we could think of was to stop at a Target and look for a new one.....no Elmo. When we got home, we searched our bags again..... no Elmo. I searched online and ordered one, hoping it was the right one.

I called the hotel the following day and left a message for housekeeping in the hopes they had it. The housekeeper returned my call, and told me he had found it, it was dirty, thought it was a dog toy, and threw it away. To which, I exclaimed, "it was dirty because it was well-loved!" The housekeeper explained he looked for it in the dumpster, found it, but it was too dirty. My dear husband and super dad set out on a search to find the correct replacement. In the meantime, he called the housekeeper back to ask him to mail it anyway. This time, he admitted, he had never found it in the dumpster.

Luckily, Kevin met up with a former coworker at Wal-Mart who said she had just stocked some at Kohl's. The new Elmo came with a see-and-say, but we didn't care at that point. We were afraid Carter would know it wasn't the original, but he wouldn't let go of it. Hopefully, he learned a lesson about not unpacking bags, but I doubt it!

When the ordered Elmo came in, it was the wrong one. I never understood why my parents would desperately help us search for lost items or drive an extra 45 minutes to go back and get my blanket I had forgotten to take to Grandma's house. Now, being a mom and knowing the importance of these comfort items, I realize that's just what parents do.

When Kevin's parents came for Thanksgiving, they brought him one they had found for him. It was the right size, but not the right fuzziness. We now, have a very large tickle-me-Elmo, a medium sized one, and two small ones. That little boy loves Elmo!