The Great Goofy Search

Mya is just like many other kids out there - she's obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She has clothing, shoes, dress up accessories, toys, games, pictures and even a border that runs all around her room that features all 6 of the Mickey characters. She loves them all.

For Christmas this year we made the trip to my mother-in-law's house and we discovered some old toys of my husband's from when he was a little boy. And - Gosh - weren't we surprised when we found a little Goofy figurine.

At first Mya wasn't too keen on Goofy. She would play with her other toys while Goofy was placed in a corner somewhere else. But slowly, Goofy became a part of our lives.

Mya now takes Goofy everywhere. He's swinging next to her on the swings at the park. He eats supper on the table with us every night. Mya gives Goofy a bath when he's dirty, changes his bum and makes sure he's wrapped up snug for his naps. Goofy also comes to the store with us, but she leaves him in the car so we don't lose him in an aisle somewhere. She calls him her baby and she takes very good care of him.

This weekend found us camping at Rowan's Ravine Provincial Park and Goofy was along for the ride. We like to keep Goofy in the camper where he'll be safe, but sometimes Mya takes him out to play. He was watching a movie in Uncle Jon's tent during a rainstorm when they found him under an air mattress. He was discovered on a camp chair watching the fire in the evening. And when bedtime rolled around on our last night there, Roger looked at me and asked: "Where's Goofy"?

Thus began The Great Goofy Search.

It was dark so we searched with flashlights. We searched the field where the kids were playing. We searched all the camp chairs. We looked in the bathrooms and in everyone's tents and campers. Luckily, Mya hadn't napped that day and she fell asleep while waiting for us to find her precious baby. Roger and I searched for over an hour with no luck. Goofy was officially missing.

Goofy has been in our lives for 8 months now and he feels like a part of the family. His yellow shirt, blue coveralls and red shoes - we see them every day. And the thought of never seeing his silly grin again tore us up inside.

The next morning Goofy was the first thing Mya asked about. We tried to down play our search and distracted Mya with the thought of playing at the park while we packed up to leave, but we knew we were in for a long ride if Goofy didn't turn up. But as each family member packed up their sites, the possibility of leaving without Goofy became more and more real.

I walked all around the park and stopped everyone I met to ask if they'd seen Goofy. Maybe another kid had picked him up? I asked the park workers who were cleaning the bathrooms. But no one had seen him. I even went so far as to dump all the recycling out onto the ground and re-bag it all. No Goofy.

When Mya came back from the park, I sucked it up. I told her that Goofy was missing and we were about to leave without him.

Mya would never see Goofy again.

And that's when I heard the cheering that started in my mom's campsite. My sister's arms flew in the air as she shouted "Woo-hoo". My nephew Jacob stood up from the picnic table with a big smile on his face. I looked all around and saw my mom running over - with Goofy in her hand.

In the end Goofy was found under my mom's camper mat. Mya smiled as she took Goofy in her arms and did not let him go until we were home safe and sound. 

Welcome home Goofy. I'm so glad we found you.

Melanie