Way back in November, my husband’s sedan died while he was driving our 8 and 6 year old girls to school. The police came out, pushed the worn-out vehicle off the four-lane city street, and kindly offered to chauffer our girls to school. I really wish I had a picture of our girls in the backseat of the cop car, boosters and all. My husband, understandably, was too shaken to worry about capturing the moment.
Finally this month we located and purchased a replacement vehicle – a slightly used Ram truck. My husband had a truck before we were married, and he always missed driving a truck.
My husband is thrilled, and now we have another vehicle (in addition to our van) that fits all 6 of us. My husband’s research paid off – we can easily fit two boosters and our 13 month old’s infant seat in the back, and our oldest can ride in the middle up front, thanks to the front bench seat. When she tested it out, our oldest gave her stamp of approval.
We also had the opportunity to try out the bed right away. My parents met us at the dealership with a furniture set that my mom had found online and they picked up for us. (Thanks, Mom and Dad!) So we got a pre-owned truck and a pre-owned leather furniture set all in the same afternoon!
Naturally, storm clouds rolled in while we were finalizing the purchase. Everyone worked together to load the furniture.
And we actually got the matching full size couch and ottoman in the van, which I drove back home while Mark drove the girls (and the loveseat).
Whew- mission accomplished!
Except for one tiny problem. After we got home, we realized my 4 year old had left her beloved Horsey at the dealership, over an hour from our house. We assured our sobbing daughter that the nice people at the dealership would find horsey, and she would have him back in no time.
After we left the room, her oldest sister stepped in to help. I overheard her offer any one of her animals as a stand-in. I listened to her trying to “sell” various animals to her snuffling sister. “Here’s Husky! Husky is a great snuggle pet. Flip him over. Isn’t his tummy so soft?”
Finally everyone settled down to sleep.
My husband called the next morning, but later that day, the news was not good. Even though we were able to explain exactly where Horsey had been left, they could not find him.
“What are we going to do?” my husband said. We were cleaning up the kitchen after putting the girls to bed, our 4 year old clutching Husky. “She loves that horse. She’s always telling me that she’s taking Horsey with her to heaven.”
“Yeah…it’s a problem. She asked me not long ago if you can still have stuffed animals when you’re a grown up. And then told me that if you couldn’t, she was not going to grow up.”
Later that night, my husband found and ordered a replica of Horsey on E-Bay. “I’m really worried she’s still going to flip out. Obviously this is not the original Horsey.” Horsey had been a gift from a horse-loving family member, and over the years he had lost most of his mane and tail.
“Well, it’s the best we can do at this point. Thanks for finding another one.”
Last week, Horsey 2.0 arrived in the mail. Before she opened the package, I had to tell her that this wasn’t exactly Horsey. “But it is just like Horsey, only better!”
My husband and I held our breath as she pulled him out of the packaging. And she was thrilled. “My new Horsey IS even better!” She exclaimed.
At dinner, she fed her new Horsey some horse treats.
At bedtime, she snuggled under the covers with him.
As we left the big girls’ bedroom for the night, my husband said, “It’s good to have order restored to the universe.”
My husband has his truck. Our daughter has her Horsey. All is well with the world.
