For me, this announcement ranks right up there with presidential election results and winning lottery numbers.

For a week and a half, Ken, the plastic mister made by Mattel and adored by my daughter, went missing.  This may not seem like a major calamity for many a household but at the Arnold casa, it brought plenty of drama, with an, “oh, agony”, thrown in half a dozen times.

My three year old’s mind has yet to separate real travesties in the world like childhood hunger  and the lack of a cure for cancer, but I feel blessed Lilly’s only stress is the whereabouts of her Ken.  But stress, it was!

My daughter has been beside herself, would not even play “Barbies” at all without Ken. I’m not real thrilled Lillian deemed the woman (Barbie) in need of a man (Ken).  But there you have it; Lillian is boy crazy, or in this case, plastic man crazy.  Barbie was not worth her time if Ken wasn’t in the picture.

I really thought after a few days Lilly would forget about Ken, but every single day she started out upset that Ken was still gone from her grasp.  An all points bulletin goes out to the siblings, with the plea of, “We need to find Ken!”

My happy ending is stated in my title and I know, as a parent, it’s likely you’ve felt that wash of relief when a lost object of your child’s affection and attention is found and in your hands to pass over to them.  It took a while for us, but it did come.

A full ten days go by – melt down after melt down, searching highs and lows– the house, the outside playhouse, the fort, the sandbox, our vehicles, calling houses that Lillian has visited, until I’m  crazed  (not to mention tired).  I’ve discovered where every single thing in my house is.  You have to also realize Ken was a constant companion to us.  Could he have been kicked out of the car while getting out at Publix?  Was he left in a cart at Wal-Mart?

“Wal-Mart?  That’s it!   I wonder if I can buy the exact same Ken and pass him off?”

Yep, I almost stooped to the level of the old switcheroo.

And then, I did it!  I finally did it! I found Ken.

After scouring Lillian’s room multiple times, looking under her bed, dumping contents from toy bins, he was there the whole time.  Ken was wedged between the wall and Lillian’s bed.

Here’s that wash of relief, and it feels so good to relive this part telling you now and there’s even more upswing.

Lillian’s room and the house are majorly organized from the search sorting.  And now, I’m having uninterrupted typing time telling you this story because Lillian — and Barbie — are engrossed with Ken making up for lost time.

shawn.arnold@polkmoms.com

www.PolkMoms.com