"Um, they aren't real - you know that right?"

Tiki has about 100 stuffed animals that he has a love hate relationship with. By love hate, I mean "I love rhino but he makes me itch". "I love Tigger, but sometimes he's mean to the other animals." Typical pretend play. He's their dad and I'm their (gulp) grandmother. He tucks them in when they are lonely, he puts them down for 'rest time', he sits them in time out when they are bad. Do you see the pattern here - he pretends with them they way his life operates as if they were real. The two smallest members of his pack are two very small stuffed dogs from a Wendy's kids meal. One is white and named Whitey and the other is brown and named Brownie so as not to get them confused with each other. So he wanted to take them to school yesterday. Bringing toys to play with is verboten, but you can bring a small stuffed animal for rest time. So off went Whitey and Brownie to school.

Monday is the one day of the week I go into my office instead of telecommuting so it's a particularly busy afternoon trying to commute my hour and get the kids before the fines kick in. I picked Bitty up first and then had to carry that squirmy baby in to TK's school. We hurried out and as a result left behind Whitey and Brownie. Tiki didn't realize this until around bedtime...around 8:00 when the school had been locked up tight for hours.

About that time the bottom lip started to quiver and then the tears began. Big crocodile tears...and they kept coming. The "not so good at being a mom" part of me wanted to go "Are you kidding - they are junky toys from Wendy's - now stop crying". Buuuuuuuttt I didn't. Instead the "you might have kids that make it to 15" part of me steered the conversation this way...

"Oh I know you are so sad, but those puppies are going to be just fine. They are locked up tight in that building and safe there. And they have each other. In fact, I bet those puppies get in trouble tonight. I bet they get out of that tote tray and run all over the school. Tomorrow morning I bet we'll find puzzles scattered all over, chairs turned over..."

"Yeah and they'll work the puzzles too..."

"That's right - and they'll sneak in the kitchen and eat the food and color on the walls. I bet they even sneak in the arcade and play the games in the arcade. Those puppies probably wont' even go to bed tonight..."

By now the tears had dried and a look of pity had replaced the quivering lip.

He looked at me with that look of pity and said..."Um they aren't real - you know that right? They are just stuffed puppies and they only sit here like this".

And just in case I didn't get the words, he illustrated what stuffed animals do by propping one his pillow and then slowly looking at me to make sure I got it...

Thanks son.