The Walrus

I was putting Jack to bed tonight, when we realized he'd left his two current favorite toys -- the Police Duck, a bath toy duck wearing a police hat, shirt, and badge (and carrying a truncheon!); and the Walrus, a second-hand bath toy from Aunt Cathy, whose judgment I question in terms of allowing him to take home used bath toys as gifts, but whatever -- downstairs. His favorite toys typically change every week or so. So, I headed downstairs to get them.

I found Police Duck, but couldn't find the Walrus. (Koo-koo-ca-choo!) So I found a serviceable replacement (or so I thought -- yeah, right) in the Martian and headed upstairs. I brought them to Jack, gave them to him, and said I couldn't find the Walrus; I promised I'd find him later and put him in his bed after he was asleep.

Jack stood there looking at me, his face not quite able to accept what I was saying. He wasn't exactly about to cry, but he was clearly not willing to take on the idea that he'd be going to bed without his Walrus.

Jack: "Well....well....Can I go look for him? Let me look for him. Because I'm a good finder. I'm good at finding things."

I said, well no, Jack (we had just put Kate down and she was sleeping, finally, and I didn't want Jack to clomp by her room -- we tell him to be quiet so he tries to go on tippy toes with the result being that he basically stomps his feet heavily with each step), but really, I'll get him for you later. And now he was quite upset, eyes all big and sad, and he said, "But....but...."

So I said, well Jack, do you know where he is? Where were you last playing with him?

Jack: "Well, I had him on the couch. And... and then I put him in the Batmobile." (The Batmobile is a medium-sized toy with a roof that opens up, and you can put characters in there and close the roof on them -- and of course, you can't see them.) I said, well Jack, why didn't you tell me? And he kind of shrugged.

So I got the Walrus for him.