I Remember This Stage

Ben and Maddie each got a coupon book for cool free stuff by local retailers for participating in the summer reading program this year. I explained to Ben the rules of the coupon book and read him the statement and made him sign himself. It said, and he agreed, every kid got one book. If you lose the book, you don't get another one and you can't use the coupons you lost. Last Saturday we used our first coupon for a free ice cream cone at McDonald's. Ben was elated, it then began to really hit home what all this junk paper really could mean to him. He was catching on and loving it! When we got home, he had to return the book to the safe spot on top of his dresser, where Maddie couldn't get it. There it would be safe until we used the next coupon in a few days. Friday came around and I knew one or two were set to expire soon, so I planned a morning of cashing in coupons. We were all excited and ready to go. We'd hit story time, get a free book, grab a box of popsicles for each of the kids and meet dad for a free lunch at noon. All was going well until Ben was sent to get his coupon book. It was gone. We searched his entire room, behind the dresser, inside the drawers, under the bed, everywhere. No luck. I called off the excursion and we looked and looked. Finally, we called Dad to verify the book had come in from the car on Saturday night. Ben was in tears, knowing the rules that we can't get another one. Dad said yes, the book came in and he hadn't seen it. Ugh. What was I to do? Pretend? Lie? Tell him to suck it up and be tough, life isn't fair? Poor kid. I ran through every possible thought in my head. If it fell in the trash, I had taken it out on Tuesday and it was long gone (of course, I took it out this week, I only do it once every two months, what rotten luck). If it got stuck in the mail on the way into the house, it had been recycled and again, was long gone. I checked through every random paper I had laying around the kitchen and dining room (not a small job...). It was gone. We changed plans with Dad. We met at a restaurant and used Maddie's coupon for Ben since she was so young she was free anyway. Ben was totally sad, but starting to come to grips with his loss. Later that day, Maddie was playing in the living room while I relaxed on the couch. She had her backpack and was filling and dumping junk out of it. It hit me like a bolt of lightning. CHECK THE BACKPACK!! Sure enough. The coupon book, and everything else special Ben keeps on his "really tall" dresser that Maddie can't reach was in there. The heavens rejoiced and Ben was giddy with excitement. We formally acknowledge entrance of a new stage of development and mischief for Maddie. I remember this stage from the Ben days. I recall when Ben was about two years old. The most random things would just disappear and be gone for days. It was a twice a day event to locate Potsy so he could take a nap. His most usual location was in the lift-up seat of his trusty push around car. Once Brian was on a business trip to London. We bought a ticket for me to join him and our fantastic neighbors were planning to watch Ben for 6 days so we could do some fun touring. About 4 days before I was to depart, I thought I had better verify I had my passport and all was in order. The keys to the safe were missing. The were kept high up on top of the computer monitor on top of the desk. I looked for 3 days and tore the entire house apart. I looked everywhere. The night before I was supposed to go, I was desperate. I put Ben to bed, prayed again for divine intervention and started looking for the hundredth time in all the regular places. I went quietly in Ben's room and pulled every last toy out of his toy chest. Just as I was about to put things back in, I saw, in the dark back corner, the keys. I just sat on the floor and cried. I wasn't going to have to skip my trip to London after all. Unfortunately, we never did find the remote control for our DVD/VCR player. It is long gone to a landfill far, far away we're sure. Things to remember in this stage:

• Maddie is taller and can reach the "safe" place for Ben's special things (or mine for that matter).
• Maddie can climb and can get a hold of anything not stuck behind a closed door.
• We must now check every random place in the house for all missing items.
• Don't blame Ben for everything that we lose anymore.