The Curious Incident of the Cat in the Cardboard Box

It was early in the New Year when ‘Cat’ went missing. Cat wasn’t the family pet; he was Bowser’s (imaginatively named) Beanie Baby cat and had become his favourite bedtime toy. That day we took a trip to the local retail park to buy Pickle a bookcase for her bedroom. For some reason Bowser insisted on taking Cat out with him – something which is not normally allowed with favourite toys. I remember rolling my eyes skywards as Cat was dropped several times in the shops, but I also remember checking that Cat was present when we reached the car laden with our flatpacks. So it was strange when at bedtime Cat was nowhere to be found. There were tears of course. Lots of tears. And lots of sympathy with a ‘I told you so’ undertone. “Mummy knows best…that’s why we don’t take our animals out with us…in case they get lost.”

I have two pieces of advice for moms when it comes to their little one adopting a favourite soft toy. Firstly try to dissuade them from falling in love with a ‘surface wash only’ pal. Inevitably a lovie will be barfed on, dropped down the toilet, dragged around the playground, and used as a tissue. After any such ordeal a washable pal can be wrestled from the little one’s clutches, given a quick joy-ride in the washing machine and be back on duty before morning. Secondly, it’s good to have an identical understudy buddy waiting in the wings. The back-up can step in while #1 takes that trip to the laundry and can take over permanently to save heartbreak if #1 suffers the same fate as Cat. I give this advice, but I don’t follow it. Cat is neither washable, nor did we have a ‘Cat 2’ to take his place in this situation.

Not entirely convinced that Cat had been lost on our shopping trip I searched everywhere. I upended the playroom, Bowser’s room, Pickle’s room. I had our mattress off our bed; the cushions off the sofas. I searched under desks, tables, in drawers, cupboards and other potential little hiding places, but no Cat could be found. Pickle gave Bowser a replacement Beanie from her extensive collection of stuffed toys. Occasionally to pull at the heartstrings a little more Bowser would have an ‘episode’ over the missing Cat – he’d wake in the night and tearfully tell me he missed Cat. Awww!

Finally, earlier this month I admitted to myself that Cat was not coming back and went in search of a replacement online. Cat is an old Beanie handed down from my cousin’s daughter, so there was no identical replacement otherwise I would have done it earlier. I found Snip the Siamese cat on Amazon and after checking with Bowser that it was an acceptable substitute, ordered him. He arrived last Wednesday and was warmly received. There followed some special ‘Mommy Moments’ as Bowser chatted away to ‘Cat 2’ as he showed him round his new home, showed him where he would sleep and introduced him to the resident stuffed animals.

The very next day Pickle decided to give our HappyLand train set an airing. She suddenly screamed excitedly and with tears of joy sparkling in her eyes ran to me brandishing …yes, you’ve guessed it ‘Cat’. He’d actually been buried in the HappyLand train set box for the last 10 weeks. I think Pickle was actually more excited than Bowser – she could imagine what it would be like to lose her precious ‘Bedtime Bunny’.

Bowser was of course delighted to have his old friend back. So now we have Cat and Cat 2. Let’s hope there are no turf wars.