it once was LOST, but now is FOUND...

do you remember my post from a few weeks back regarding the trail of destruction that jack left after one particularly loooong week?  broken lampshades and picture frames and messes?  i also forgot to share the story of his christmas book, and now that the story has a happy ending, here it goes...

a few months ago, i discovered OLIVER JEFFERS.  among other talents, he is a wonderful children's author/illustrator.  his books are like treasures, and for my little bookworm, i decided he NEEDED a few to add to his collection.  after painstakingly reading reviews and plot summaries, i decided that jack would most enjoy the incredible book eating boy and lost and found.  as soon as the books arrived on our doorstep, i loved them.  they are works of art.  really.  they are the sort of books you treasure and remember and one day show your children with the "THESE WERE MY FAVORITE BOOKS!" caveat.  i couldn't wait to wrap them, put them under the tree and watch jack's reaction when he opened them on christmas day.

while cleaning up and attempting to organize various closets and nooks and crannies in our house, i placed the two books in the closet in our spare bedroom.  i intended (at some later date) to wrap them and hide them, but i figured they would be safe and go unnoticed in that space.  imagine my surprise when, during jack's reign-of-terror-week, i came home to jack sitting on the couch paging through the incredible book eating boy!  "JOHN!" i exclaimed.  "WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!  WHERE DID HE GET THAT BOOK?"  "he brought it to me after his nap," john replied.  "i assume it came from his bookshelf?"  "IT DID NOT, IN FACT, COME FROM HIS BOOKSHELF!" i noted.  "IT WAS HIDDEN.  IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FOR C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S!" (in retrospect, i am not entirely sure why i spelled CHRISTMAS, as jack is not entirely clear on the focus/goal/etc. surrounding the holiday).  i snatched the book from jack and rushed into the spare bedroom to find a new hiding place when i realized that lost and found was.. well, lost.

i looked everywhere.  in the closet, in various toy boxes and bins.  in magazine holders.  in the storage closet.  in our closet.  on jack's bookshelves.  in the cabinet with the other books.  THAT BOOK WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND.  i lamented the sad fate of the darling book to john that night.  "I BOUGHT THAT FOR JACK FOR CHRISTMAS, " i whined.  "AND IT IS AMAZING AND IT IS MORE THAN I WOULD USUALLY SPEND ON A BOOK, AND HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED?" i wondered.  "WHERE COULD IT BE?!"

and then john shared one place he thought the book might be - the dump.  apparently, in an effort to follow a household mandate i had imposed, john had organized a bunch of things that needed to be taken to the dump that day, and jack had been roaming around during the organizational process.  "maybe he accidentally dropped that book into one of the boxes or bags without me noticing," john said.  "i'm really sorry... i had no idea."  we both agreed it was the most logical explanation, and i decided to chalk it up to yet another thing that jack had broken/destroyed/etc. that week.  it still bothered me, though.  whenever i thought about it.  the lost and found book that had gotten lost.  UGH!

fast forward about a month to this past weekend.  we were cleaning and organizing and setting up christmas decorations when i pulled the bed in our spare bedroom away from the wall and heard a little plop as something hit the ground.  when i looked down, I SAW THE BOOK!  the lost and found book was... FOUND!  REJOICE, REJOICE!  john was less enthusiastic than i was about the return of the book, but we were both pleased that the book was safely in our house and not the garbage dump.  a pretty great story about a book (appropriately titled) lost and found, right?

and now i have renewed hope that my other running shoe might be somewhere in our house and not accidentally thrown (by jack) into the boxes or bags i donated to goodwill a few weeks ago...