To ask you to help me find this teddy bear for DD

[pinkcarpet]

My DD (age 5) has had a teddy bear since she was born (was a gift from one of her aunts) and she absolutely loves it to death. Sleeps with it every night, runs to cuddle it when she is sad.

Unbeknown to me or DH she decided to put it in her schoolbag yesterday morning and take it to school. She got home from school and it was gone, no longer in her bag. She swears blind she left it in her bag all day but the last time she can remember seeing it is lunchtime yesterday.

She was in floods of tears yesterday afternoon, we retraced our steps all the way back to the school, looked in all the surrounding streets, I have posted on local groups and asked the school but no-one has seen it. We asked again at the school office this morning and still nothing. I have searched ebay and all the usual second hand sites I can think of but nothing is coming up.

So, AIBU to ask you to help me find a replacement bear, or should I use this as a life lesson for DD and not replace it?

I think a little one would have hidden it within the setting. Soft toys are not allowed at the moment so finding one would be like finding gold dust. Whoever has found it has stashed it for safe keeping. Fingers crossed it turns up

Asked in TKMaxx who checked lost property and took my number in case anyone brought it in. 2 weeks later I was in there for a mooch and found it for sale in the toy dept! (Complete with DD’s snot/dribble marks.)

OMG!!! Am I allowed to laugh at that?

@Corono

Asked in TKMaxx who checked lost property and took my number in case anyone brought it in. 2 weeks later I was in there for a mooch and found it for sale in the toy dept! (Complete with DD’s snot/dribble marks.)

OMG!!! Am I allowed to laugh at that?

Of course. I can now. I was furious for about 3 years!

Not the first time either.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1247016/TK-Maxx-puts-toddlers-homemade-toy-sale-loses-shopping-trip.html

I would wager it's in the school. I have a rubbish relationship with my kids school but nothing we have ever misplaced has been stolen it's always turned up the staff are just not amazing at looking and or have better things to do.

@Feminist10101 I can imagine, but the thought of a snotty, dribble con teddy for sale!

I would want to know the nursery/foundation/list property/teachers desks and the after school club have been checked.

My school also send alerts for larger lost items out to all parents.

I'm thinking it's fallen out in the corridor if it's not been returned yet and another teacher has picked it up and put it somewhere.

Or a parent will check their DC bag this weekend and bring it back on Monday.

@feminist10101 that is shocking! Glad you can laugh at it now!!

The school doesn't have corridors, the infant section all have doors to their own classrooms directly from outside and they are eating lunch in their classes just now, so it could only be in her classroom or in the playground. We've searched both already but will check again on Monday.

None of the class parents have found it yet and I asked them to check on Thurs evening and on Fri evening. Its really has disappeared!!

Could the parents as well as looking also ask their children if they had seen in and show them the picture. Both my kids were like little annoying police inspectors and noticed and watched everything that went on at that age. I bet one of them has seen something and can remember what happened they just need to be asked. Bag of haribos for anyone who can think of information that leads to it being found !

@pinkcarpet try the posters on the walk? Someone may well have picked it up and put it to one side.

We've out posters up outside the school gate and DD took one in to put on the noticeboard inside today. DH went round the playground this morning after getting permission from the head teacher to look but no luck yet.

Fingers crossed the posters work OP.

Just a thought but is it possible your DD accidentally put teddy back in someone elses schoolbag by mistake when she took it out to give it a kiss? There are so many similar looking bags and if they are all grouped together it would be easy to open the wrong zip and pop teddy in there and when discovered later in the wrong bag the other child might be worried that it looks like they have taken it when they haven't so are now concerned about saying they have it and returning it.

Thanks @TuttiFrutti123 I don't think there's anyone in her class with the same bag. She is generally pretty observant and good at knowing what's hers. The bags are in individual cubbyholes (like a giant cube storage unit) with their names on so it would have to have fallen out, but I'll ask her again this afternoon. We really hoped it might be in the playground but its not looking very likely any more.

I can't believe someone would have taken it, it is a very scruffy looking thing to anyone except DD. So it might be lying somewhere still, or someone may have picked it up thinking they would return it and haven't got round to it yet. Hopefully the posters will remind people.

Poor DD has been so emotional this weekend and was really difficult to get into school this morning. She is paranoid about losing things now and keeps saying "I am never taking anything out of the house ever again".

Could it have fallen down behind the cube unit?

I really hope you find Teddy, so sad for your DD. Hopefully someone brings it in. I'm looking online for a replacement, I can find lots of similar but not quite the same bear 😢 I'll keep looking

I still think it's on route and the school is a red herring. Someone along the way had picked it up, taken it indoors and us minding it until they know who owns it.

Try more posters.

@Corono we've got posters by the school gates now. The walk to school is a footpath through a local park and over a sports field so there isn't really anywhere on the route to attach a poster but I do agree that some more posters in the area wouldn't do any harm. We have written there is a cash reward on them. I've also posted on all the local community groups social media pages so hopefully if it is out there somewhere it will be noticed but its been 4 days now!

@pinkcarpet oh damn I'd hoped it was residential and he was languishing in a hall way waiting to be retrieved ☹️

I also wish for once the daily mail would pick this up and send it viral and you'd definitely get a few replacements

WE HAVE FOUND TEDDY!!!!

Cannot begin to tell you how relieved DD is. She came home from her childminder with the biggest smile on her face ever.

Seems like all the pestering people and posting pictures everywhere did it. Although it is rather mysterious as DD "found" teddy in her bag at the end of the day with no explanation and no idea how it got in there. Teddy will now be confined to the house for the rest of her days.

Fantastic update OP!!! So happy for your DD and you!!

So happy for you and DD, a great outcome!

When my daughter was about 4 we had the audacity to forget her favourite baby doll someplace 2 hrs away from home. We drove back, located the doll and had to stay overnight. A lot of extra £££ spent as a result. But clearly there just wasn't another option. 😄

Welcome home, Teddy

Yay!!!!!!!!

Oh what a wonderful day, don't worry about how or when, he is home!!

"Does happy dance"

Fantastic news!