My Gratitude to a "Lovey" Seeker and Finder

[jsbenkert]

I think I have discovered one of the most wonderful services ever.  The woman who started it must have one of the most kind and compassionate souls ever.  I gush, but I am so grateful to her and what she has started.  It's a lost lovey search service.  How she came up with this idea, I don't know, but I do know that she has probably saved us some long, miserable, sleepless nights.

My younger daughter, as some here already know, has autism.  She turned five in December.  She never showed any preference for any sort of stuffed animal in all her infant or toddler years.  Never.  Friends and family would buy her the cutest, cuddliest, sweetest stuffed animals for her birthday, for Christmas, for Easter, or just because.  Lillian never cared for any of them.  Four years ago, when I was shopping in a Target store, I saw adorable little animals (about 4" long each) in the dollar bins.  I picked up a dog, a cat, a duck and a lamb.  They sat around my house for nearly four years, barely acknowledged, never really played with.  Then out of the blue, one day a couple of months ago, Lillian picked up the cat, named her (very cleverly, I might add) "Kitty Cat" and began to sleep with her every night.  Then she started to want to take the cat places with her, and would fuss if "Kitty Cat" happened to get wet or dirty. 

One evening, Lillian and "Kitty Cat" were helping me fold laundry.  Actually, I was folding laundry, and Lillian would grab what I had folded and fling it up in the air.  After spending twice as long trying to fold the clothes, I finished what I could and placed it back in the laundry basket, then got my girls ready for bed.  At bedtime, we couldn't find Kitty Cat.  I searched everywhere.  Through her tears, Lillian would throw out words like "fireplace" and "Christmas tree".  I searched all through the Christmas tree and checked the fireplace thoroughly.  No Kitty Cat.  I couldn't figure out what had happened to her.  I had no choice but to put Lillian to bed without her and hope for the best.  She cried for over an hour until she finally fell asleep, and she woke several times during the night crying for her Kitty Cat.  Of course, I found her the next day when I got around to putting away the laundry (and hated myself all day for not thinking of checking there--duh!).  That episode really got me thinking, though, that we might be in trouble now that Lillian has developed such a strong attachment for a lovey--something that I initially regarded as a positive, a milestone in a way.

So I began my search to see if I could find a back up, just in case the unthinkable happened.  I first googled the company--Luv n'care--to see if they could lead me to a store that might still carry this particular stuffed animal.  No such luck.  So I did general searches and combed through site after site trying to find one.  Knowing my child as I do, I know that it would have to be the exact cat, not something sort of close.  I was feeling hopeless.  Then I found a search site called "Plush Memories Lost Toy Search Service".  I was skeptical. After all, as far as I could tell this has been out of production for at least four years.  But I wrote a description of the cat along with a short explanation of why it was so important to me to find one.  The owner of the search site contacted me and asked for a picture, which I took and sent. 

Several weeks passed, and I thought it was a nice try, but probably too long a shot to work out.  However, I've just been contacted by a mom who has that very cat--and she is going to send it to me on Monday.  I know it must seem a silly thing to some people, but I am overjoyed.  If I have a back up "Kitty Cat"  I won't be so worried if Lillian insists that she take hers to school or shopping.  If something were to happen to it (or even if it were loved a little too much), I'll have one on hand to soothe her.  I am so relieved!

So, here is my ode to this wonderful woman, Rosemary, and her inspired idea to have a place for parents to go to search for lost lovies.  Rosemary, I don't know how you came up with this idea, but I am grateful.  You might very well have spared my little girl desperate, sleepless nights, and you've given her parents a sense of relief, because we weren't sure how we would be able to soothe our special girl if something happened to Kitty Cat.  You can be sure that I will be checking out your site regularly to see if I might have a lovey that some other parents need to find for their child.  I want to return this favor ten-fold or more.

For those of you who are searching for a lost lovey, and for those of you who might want to share a lovey with a little child who's lost his/hers, here is the web site:

http://plushsearch.dirtybutter.com

If that link still doesn't work, you can google "Plush Memories Lost Toy Search Service".

I am so very happy I found it!

[doublethejoy616]

Jan. 24, 2009 at 10:54 PM

Wow that's a great idea!! 

[LadybugsMonkeys]

Jan. 24, 2009 at 11:16 PM

Wow...Thank You so much for this. My son has sensory processing disorder and is very attached to a stuffed monkey, I wouldn't know what I would do if he ever got lost. Now I atleast have a place to try.

CoCo the monkey was once lost for a whole 24 hours so I know your pain.

[LadybugsMonkeys]

Jan. 24, 2009 at 11:19 PM

Your link doesn't work........I just thought I would let you know. I'm off to go search yahoo.

 

[aurorabunny]

Jan. 24, 2009 at 11:31 PM

Yeah the link doesn't work. :(  But I'm SO happy for you and Lillian!  Trust me I know how much little things like that can mean!  I smiled reading your story because my son is pretty much the exact same way.  He has nets of stuffed animals in his room and he is so disdainful of all of them that he won't even touch them.  HOWEVER 2 summers ago we bought him a stuffed Kangaroo at the zoo gift shop, and OMG that thing is the end all be all of everything.  Needless to say looking back this was an idiotic idea, but last summer we took him to the zoo gift shop again all excited for him to pick a new "lovely" friend and guess what he picked-the same Kangaroo.  LOL.  But we thought might as well stock up on them for the exact reasons you mentioned!  I bet Lillian will be so happy to see Kitty Cat again!

[jsbenkert]

Jan. 25, 2009 at 9:27 AM

I fixed the link--hopefully it will work now.  If not, you should be able to find it easily through Google.  I didn't mention it in my journal, but she doesn't charge for this service, nor is the mom who is sending me the kitty cat charging me anything (of course, it only cost a dollar to begin with--but I would have paid to have a back up).  I don't know if that is always the case, but it seems to be.  You just work it out with the person who has or needs an item. 

(Original Poster)