Operation: Rescue Kipper

[ComedyPilot]

My 18 month old daughter, Róisín[FONT=&quot], has a little stuffed toy dog called Kipper.

Last night we went out to the local town's bonfire and firework display (which Róisín slept through!!) and, unbeknownst to us, Kipper fell out of the pram somewhere twixt the car and the bonfire.

Mandie realised this morning when we couldn't find Kipper. All Róisín’s other toys were there; Hartley Rabbit, Phillip Dog, Bugsy, PG Monkey and Dongle Rabbit, but alas no Kipper.

I then set off on my bike to get to the showground to try and find Kipper. It was a cold but clear morning, and the legs took a little warming up, but a mile or so in and I was like toast. Hot, sweaty, red-faced and out-of-breath toast maybe, but toast non-the-less. The 5 miles to the showground where we parked the car passed by in a blur, and I made my way to the spot we parked the car the night before.

Blinking into the strong early morning sunshine, I scanned the area where we parked the car the night before.

There, with his little beige legs stuck up out of the grass, was kipper, not damaged at all, and just a little damp to the touch due to the overnight mist and light rain.

A quick hurried phone call to Mandie to let her know I'd found Kipper, before jumping back onto the bike, and riding a longer way home for a cheeky 'training session'.

I got home and presented Róisín with Kipper.

At this point the story really needs a description of the teary face of joy and squeals of delight when she was re-united with Kipper.

Sadly this was not to be. Róisín duly threw him on the floor and carried on ripping pages out of a magazine spread on the floor.

Was the ride worth it?

Too right.

She got Kipper, but I got another 22 miles in the bank!!
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[Arch]

Oh, you nearly had me tears - first of sadness and then laughter at her reaction....

Very noble and an excellent result. He may not be able to tell you, but Kipper is truely grateful. I always feel sad when I see a lost toy.

Oh and, "Dongle Rabbit"?

 

[ComedyPilot]

Oh and, "Dongle Rabbit"?

The first toy we bought her - a pink, fluffy rabbit, with an internal bell that jangles when you move the rabbit - hence Dongle Rabbit.

More people question the naming of Phillip Dog???

 

[661-Pete]

Lovely story! Don't worry about your daughter's apparent rejection of her toy. No doubt she'll re-discover Kipper in the weeks to come!

Brings to my mind a similar 'recovery' story of a more serious and grown-up nature, often re-told in my family. One day, when I was a tiny tot, we all set off for a day at the seaside, somewhere in Sussex with a shingle and sand beach. On the way back - almost back home, my mother felt her hand in alarm. No wedding-ring. She recalled having taken it off to go swimming, it must have slipped through the shingle.

After dropping the rest of us off at home, my father set straight off again in the car, an 80-mile round trip. He got back to the same beach. He managed to remember the exact spot where we'd been sitting. He scrabbled around in the shingle for a while. He found the ring.

 

[Arch]

The first toy we bought her - a pink, fluffy rabbit, with an internal bell that jangles when you move the rabbit - hence Dongle Rabbit.

More people question the naming of Phillip Dog???

Ah, I see. I was thinging of dongle as in the computer connecting thingy...

I suppose the other thing she could have done is put Kipper, complete with dew and snail slime and bits of grass sticking to him, in her mouth....

 

[ComedyPilot]

Lovely story! Don't worry about your daughter's apparent rejection of her toy. No doubt she'll re-discover Kipper in the weeks to come!

Brings to my mind a similar 'recovery' story of a more serious and grown-up nature, often re-told in my family. One day, when I was a tiny tot, we all set off for a day at the seaside, somewhere in Sussex with a shingle and sand beach. On the way back - almost back home, my mother felt her hand in alarm. No wedding-ring. She recalled having taken it off to go swimming, it must have slipped through the shingle.

After dropping the rest of us off at home, my father set straight off again in the car, an 80-mile round trip. He got back to the same beach. He managed to remember the exact spot where we'd been sitting. He scrabbled around in the shingle for a while. He found the ring.

That makes my story pale into insignificance!!!

 

[Rhythm Thief]

If anyone ever finds a toy Kenworth lorry on the Banoco beach in Kuwait, it's mine.


Nice stories, by the way. Glad kipper is OK.

 

[ComedyPilot]

Photo of Kipper re-united with Roisin coming soon.

 

[661-Pete]

That makes my story pale into insignificance!!!

Not a bit of it! A toy is as important to a small child, as a piece of jewellery is to an adult. You did well!

 

[2Loose]

Kids, fickle eh!

 

[Noodley]

Excellent story CP

And a tip for future reference: tie a long piece of elastic to Kipper then attach the other end to the pram. We did this with our younger daughter's favourite toy (Dudge the Dog) for fear he would get lost. She still takes him to bed every night even though he is little more than shredded pieces of fabric with a dog-like head.

 

[gavintc]

Lovely story! Don't worry about your daughter's apparent rejection of her toy. No doubt she'll re-discover Kipper in the weeks to come!

Brings to my mind a similar 'recovery' story of a more serious and grown-up nature, often re-told in my family. One day, when I was a tiny tot, we all set off for a day at the seaside, somewhere in Sussex with a shingle and sand beach. On the way back - almost back home, my mother felt her hand in alarm. No wedding-ring. She recalled having taken it off to go swimming, it must have slipped through the shingle.

After dropping the rest of us off at home, my father set straight off again in the car, an 80-mile round trip. He got back to the same beach. He managed to remember the exact spot where we'd been sitting. He scrabbled around in the shingle for a while. He found the ring.

I bet she stopped ripping up the magazine.

 

[Mr Pig]

I always feel sad when I see a lost toy.

Weird that isn't it? Just a piece of plastic too. Putting a teddy bear in the bin feels like an act of murder! ;0)

I used to make teddy bears. I'd quite like to make a big bear-type hand puppet but it would cost a lot to buy enough high-quality fur fabric.

 

[661-Pete]

I can still vaguely remember - this after well over half a century - the soft comfort toy I used to have to bed. Blurred photos which I still have reveal that it was a sort of rabbit-shape, but I was told that I thought it was a dog and named it "wow-wow" or something like. But my mother used to insist that at the end, when it had become ragged, totally threadbare, and rather insanitary, I actually disposed of the creature myself: put it in the dustbin without a murmur. Perhaps that's the best way.

I must have been only about three or four at the time, because that's when this creature disappears from the photos.

 

[summerdays]

I remember a journey to recover a lost caterpillar, a treasured toy, and the lack of enthusiasm that greeted his recovery from a car park.

My 8 year old though was upset when he misplaced his bear - unusual because said bear isn't allowed out of the house apart from overnight stays - due his emotional attachment. Spent a whole weekend looking everywhere, tears each night at bed time, come Monday morning I went to pack his school bag and found the bear in there!!