by Kristen Bagwell

The dreaded day has finally come...we've lost her. White sotfy, that is...my daughter's most prized possession. White softy was a gift when my daughter was born 4 years ago, and she is like Linus with her little blanket. It comforts her, it soothes her, it has fun with her, it does gymnastics with her...there is nothing white softy won't do.

It's always been funny to me that white softy is "she" and "her" but has no real name other than "white softy." Other softys have come and gone over the years. In fact, she has 3 other softys upstairs. Four, if you count her brother's, and she slept with all of them last night. "My heart is breaking, Mommy," she told me, and while 4-year old girls are prone to high drama, I think she really believed it was. So sad.

Here's how it went down: same as every day, I picked them up at preschool after work. Got my daughter, got white softy, got her brother and all his baby gear, and piled into the car to go see Nana. This is the place where it gets fuzzy...I am positive we got white softy from the cubby, but not all that positive she got into the car with us. I was hoping we'd dropped it at Nana and Boppy's last night; imagine my dismay to see the email from my mom this morning saying "not here."

I suppose I will prowl around at school after I drop them off this morning and try to track her down, but what if the big bad thing happens and no one has white softy? My daughter has lost her very first best friend, and while it seems a silly thing, it hurts my heart to think about having to tell her that. This is something she loves more than anything in the world, and I know it's only a thing. Still, it's her thing, and her best buddy. It's almost like losing a pet, I think - any suggestions on how to deal?

Meanwhile, keep your fingers crossed that we've just dropped her somewhere and that some kind citizen has turned her in to the school's lost and found. There are still good samaritans around, right?