To be sitting crying because we managed to leave DS1's beloved Teddy behind on holiday. And furious at Dh for not checking.

[SayMyNameSayIt]

Sorry if this sounds really stupid. DS1 has had Teddy since he was a baby, he's 6 and a half now. Teddy is so thin and threadbare now but DS1 loves him so much and would sleep with Teddy across his nose, inhaling him.

We were staying at a villa, I was packing all our stuff. Asked DH to pack food etc from the kitchen, and check the rooms. Got to the airport and suddenly I realised I wasn't sure if Teddy had been packed. Cue a big row and Dh getting all annoyed at being asked if he'd packed him or seen him.

I texted the villa rep who went straight there and asked the maids to check if Teddy had been caught up in the sheets etc, which I strongly suspected.

Rep has got back to me saying they've checked and he was back at the villa today to close it for the season and no sign. DS1 is trying to be all tough and pretend he's not that bothered. But I know he is, he said, teddy and I have been together for so long.

I know it's totally irrational and stupid but I'm actually sitting crying. He has loads of teddies and cuddly toys, but Teddy was special. I envisaged keeping him myself when ds1 was all grown up. I feel awful for him that I, myself, didn't think to check before we left.

Teddy wasn't glued to ds1's side, not by any means. Well, not for a long time anyway. Yes, ds1 could have thought to get him himself. I suppose I'm crying for the loss of that wee boy with his teddy as well.

I could get another the same, and ds2 has the same one. But ds1 said he would want him to be the same, which would take years. Think The Velveteen Rabbit.

I very very rarely post a thread, please don't shoot me down in flames. I'm honestly so upset, not a wind up. ( I think I'm just posting to vent, Dh is watching the footy and I doubt he'd understand how I feel anyway. )

[ediepop]

I totally feel your pain, I really hope you get teddy back!

DD (10 mos) has a little blanket thingy she is very attached to. It smells utterly disgusting, like off milk, and is grey with dirt, and generally vile, but I've never been able to bring myself to wash it, as whenever I put DD down in her cot, she'll do a mini wail, find her 'smelly' and visibly huff it, relax and go to sleep. I mean would you wash it?

Anyway, smelly goes with DD to the childminders for use during naps etc. Yesterday, I went to pick DD up and the childminder, shamefacedly produced smellly, which was, oh the horror, clean. I was horrified, yet also strangely relieved as really, it was pretty disgusting. Apparently smelly had been dropped on the street and then run over, so there was no choice but to wash it. Oddly, DD still seems to be attached to it.

[stinkingbishop]

Oh it's horrid isn't it. I remember DB losing a rubber dollie in the Borders once in a tiny village and my DPs actually going to the police station and...they found her!

Fast forward twenty years and DS left Cosie Rosie on an Easyjet flight and I wrote to Stelios himself with no joy and Al Fayed (GPs had bought her from Harrods but they'd run out)...he STILL moans about it, aged 19.

Which is why now with the DTDs they each have a duplicate of their favourite toy and I secretly alternate them in their cots so they both get equally loved/smeared and slimed and are therefore indistinguishable!

[RiffyWammal]

OMG the tale of Piggy made me well up!

OP I understand completely. My DS's have never had special teddies, but I will never forget losing my Little Boy Blue when I was about 5 (35 years ago). My Mom thought I had left him in the DSS office, we went back but he was gone, she blamed a family who had been there when we were. I won a replacement on ebay a few years ago, and coincidentally it came from a town only a few miles away from where we live - and when it arrived the fingers were chewed just the way I remembered chewing them

Fingers crossed very hard for you, OP.

[MissStrawberry]

May I suggest that people write a list of things they take away that would be a nightmare if they lost just so the checking can be done before you leave?

There is a toys reunited topic on here and I am sure people will help you look to try and find a replacement.

All my children have special teddies (just saw on my 12 year old's bed two teddies, a Paddington and our actual cat. On the window sill is another Paddington) but if they try and take them out of the house I remind them they have to keep hold of them and to think how they would feel if they lost them. Some times teddy then stays at home..

[DropYourSword]

I'd cry if I lost my teddy, and I'm 30!!

If teddy doesn't turn up, I'd also be more than happy to send a teddy postcard. I live in Australia so he could really have gone on some travels!

Please feel free to PM me if you'd like.

[SayMyNameSayIt]

ediepop
Yes, definitely the smell! A few times both my DS's teddies have needed washed due to nosebleeds though they were happy to have bloodstained teddies for a few nights and do was I and they would complain that teddies had lost their "good smells"!

I said just keep teddy tucked in your t -shirts/ jammies till you get all their good smells back. Sometimes I'D wander round with teddies down my top to speed up the process!!!

[SayMyNameSayIt]

stinkingbishop
That's a great idea!

riffywammal
That's a lovely story, I bet it was YOURS! Imagine getting him back after all those years.

DropYourSword
Thank you, that's so kind of you. I'm so touched. I'll let you know if I need a postcard, going to give it a few days to see what if teddy turns up.

[SoftKittyWarmKitty]

OP, I totally understand. My DS (7) has a teddy that I bought him when he was just a couple of months old. It's nothing special - just a bog standard cream (well, it was cream ) teddy - but the minute I showed him the teddy in the shop he just grabbed it and wouldn't let go.

Teddy's been everywhere with us - he goes shopping, on days out, on holiday - and there have been several close run things where I DS left him behind. Thankfully, we've always managed to get him back. Got nine lives like a cat, that teddy! DS I would be devastated if he was lost, as not only would DS miss him but I'd miss him and all he represents of DS's babyhood and young childhood.

I really hope you get it back.

[BarnYardCow]

Hope he turns up, know how you feel, you almost want to jump on the plane and go back yourself to look! Dd2 lost her sniff ( comforter) on holiday last year. We retraced our steps in the theme park, contacted lost property but no luck.it is almost like a piece of them is lost. Luckily, she still has big sniff and spare little sniff, but we pinned it too her this year!

[SayMyNameSayIt]

MissStrawberry

That's a good idea. Though I don't normally need a list as it's usually just Teddy who is most important. I just can't believe that I didn't think myself, it would normally be a big priority for me.

I CAN get another the same, and I know DS would love him as I'd say its teddy's brother or teddy's cousin. It wouldn't be long before the new teddy had all the good smells, but even ds2's teddy (same one) is nowhere near the same rate of lovedness and he's 5!

( as a parent, I seem to have morbid thoughts from time to time, like imagining my DS falling out of windows, being taken, being hurt etc. I think this is fairly common and is a manifestation of the worry and anxiety we feel as parents.
Well, I would sometimes imagine DS1 dying and him
Lying in a coffin. I would try to decide if I would put teddy IN with ds1 to keep him company. Or if I would keep him MYSELF as the closest thing to DS. God, that is morbid!!!!! But that's a measure of how much teddy means. Please excuse my melodrama. )

[SayMyNameSayIt]

I'll look at that thread about teddies reunited. Thank you.

[SayMyNameSayIt]

softkittywarmkitty
That's it exactly. Teddy is the epitome of DS 1 and his childhood. When he was younger, he'd call, "dummy and teddy!" That was the war cry!

One memorable time when a wee tot, he called , "dummy, teddy, bottle!" Then "away!" When he got those needs met! It was so funny! Even now, my Dad will sometimes say,
"Dummy, teddy, bottle! Away!" Accompanied by a dismissive wave of the hand! Cos that's what ds1 did, summarily dismissed!

[CambridgeBlue]

The story of Piggy had me in bits! What a lovely happy ending.

I love when my DD (11) has sleepovers with her mates. They're all getting a bit grown up and too cool for school but at bedtime the battered, knackered, hardly-look-like-the-animal-they're-meant-to-be-any-more toys come out and you can see they're still just kids underneath all the preteen posing!

I had a knitted toy that I adored when I was a child and when he got too battered my Mum made me a new one as a replacement but it just wasn't the same. It didn't feel right and it didn't smell right - luckily I still have the original and sometimes sleep with him so Mk2 was never needed.

[CambridgeBlue]

Don't want to upset anyone but when my little sister died I think one of the hardest decisions my parents had to make was whether she should be buried with her bear or not. She was in the end and I think that was right but they must have wanted to keep him so much as a reminder :(

[SayMyNameSayIt]

The villa company just emailed me to say they'd contacted their reps in resort so fingers crossed.

It's a small, very quiet resort and end of season, so hopefully not so much laundry "traffic".

(I emailed back to thank them etc, and I mentioned a reward!!)

[Coffeenowplease]

Im welling up over piggy. I still have my special bear. It is the ugliest teddy ever. Woolen one, has holes on, had been patched, darned etc. But he was my special bear. He lives with my mum now though.

[SayMyNameSayIt]

CambridgeBlue

I'm so sorry to hear about your sister, that must be so hard. Although I can't and won't pretend to know how your parents felt about putting her teddy in, I have often imagined that scenario.
I think they did do the right thing, but I really understand how much they would have wanted to keep her teddy.

(Am crying for you and your parents as I imagine it, bit you haven't upset me. My tears are of sympathy and empathy for you. Please accept my sincere condolences. )

[GhostsInSnow]

Oh I'm crossing everything that Teddy turns up! My boy has a little white teddy who started life as "Beau" but became "Pancake" simply because he was so flat from being loved.

DS is coming up for 21 and recently moved in with his GF, at the top of the moving box was Pancake. Choked me a bit and I couldn't imagine not having him so I know how you feel.

[GoofyIsACow]

Oh my, i need to follow this thread, it's like a good book!
I hope you find teddy saymyname, DS1 has a bunny which is the same, he dropped it in paris a few years ago, we didnt notice and a lovely french girl chased after us to give it back. I was devastated at the thought of us not noticing and walking away :(

Anyway, I have just put him in the wash because he smells of shit Ds will whinge momentarily when he realises but it is always short lived!

[justmyview]

Cambridge Blue - how desperately sad. Think your parents made the right choice

[Fecklessdizzy]

Check out Tatty Ratty it's a very sniffle-inducing story of a rabbit's travels after being lost on a train ...

DS2 has an ancient dog who appears in just about every photo with him from birth onwards. Sweep has been lost/ found/ kidnapped for ransom so many times that at one point I actually used to tie him onto DS2 with a purple boot-lace known as Sweep's safety-belt. When we travel he has a passport promising untold riches for his return

Hope your Ted turns up.

[SayMyNameSayIt]

JuiceOrtiz

Yeah, Teddy is flat too! Am loving Pancake!
Sometimes I re stuff teddy with white socks, bit his material is so thin that they just seem to "leak" out!

Teddy is a Prince Lionheart Slumber Bear. I don't really know how to post a link but they have a website and you can see them on amazon etc. They are expensive, about £30, because of the wee device in its tummy.

It plays real womb sounds and is activated by movement or sound, so when ds1 was in his cot beside my bed, if he moved or cried, teddy would "go off".

I used to find it very soothing myself! You can also record your own voice which was great I was out, it meant DS could always hear my voice.

[SayMyNameSayIt]

fecklessdizzy

I have a photo of ds1 at the airport with teddy, on his first holiday, both with passports!!!

[MissStrawberry]

CambridgeBlue. I am so sorry for your loss.

Say - when my DD had a serious accident we also had to have the conversation about whether we put her toy in with her or kept him with us. Not something you think of when reading up on pregnancy and childhood. We bought her two the same as I said earlier and just have one now. We did order several but when they arrived they weren't the same. The shop refused to help and tbh DD is fine about it now but I would still love to get another one.

[Arohaitis]

I would cry too (and did when it happened to us) my husband had to get 1 18 month old and his bear off the plane I had to get all the other stuff, he left he bear behind we realised instantly went to ask at the airline desk, went back the next day too (to lost property) nothing.

It made me mad because we kind of suspected someone had just stolen it,
it had been with him since birth and through a long hospital admission and every trip to theatres too, at least he was too young to realise