Dog gone

Today, disaster struck the Dholakia household -- Fluffy Puppy was lost. No one knows precisely when he went missing, but Chuki took Sonia out for a long walk this afternoon and when they came home she realized that FP was no longer with Sonia in the stroller. Part of me wanted to get mad at Chuki for not noticing that Sonia had thrown FP from the stroller, but she (Chuki) felt so bad about losing him (and in fact went out twice to retrace their entire route looking for him) that it was hard to get angry. And, honestly, Sonia is constantly throwing things of late so it could have happened to anyone.

I'm sure all of my childless readers are mocking this post, but those of you with kids who are attached to a single item can probably appreciate the near panic that set in at our household almost immediately. Fluffy Puppy was the first thing in the world that Sonia had clearly adored, and it was genuinely sad to think we had lost him so quickly. Every time she saw him she would break out into a big smile and crawl over to where he was and pick him up and hug him. With this mental image permanently imprinted in my brain, I of course went straight from the office to Target on my way home (where Dada had purchased the original Fluffy Puppy, albeit the Target in Tracy where they live). Unfortunately they did not have another FP, but they did have a dog that was somewhat similar (same manufacturer and also grey and white, but a bit smaller and some sort of mutt instead of a Husky), so I bought that. I gave it to Sonia when I got home (with an explanation about how this was Fluffy Puppy's cousin and how FP was now playing with real dogs...shamelessly lifted straight from The Velveteen Rabbit). She hugged FP#2 (name still pending) before going to sleep, so perhaps a crisis has been averted. Nevertheless, the next time any of you are at Target, please check the stuffed animal bin to see if they have a small, grey and white Husky-style dog and I will reimburse you for it.