When Babar went missing

Your weekly icebreaker

I was with a friend over the weekend who was telling me about her son’s stuffed penguins. His first penguin was Peter — a gift at birth. After almost losing Peter, they picked up Paul. Paul, it was explained, is a sleep specialist. Then, before a family trip to Mexico, Peter introduced her son to penguin Pedro, a travel connoisseur. Pedro made the trip to Mexico while Peter watched over things at home.

This got me thinking about the elaborate and adorable stories behind our favorite stuffed animals (or stuffies as they call them now), leading to this week’s prompt:

What was your childhood stuffed animal’s name and story?

My most beloved childhood stuffed animal was Babar, King of the Elephants. This version of Babar had floppy arms and legs and a hard, round rattle inside. When Babar went missing one day, he was promptly replaced by another lookalike. I knew the difference, but I tried to be cool about it.

About six months later, the original Barbar was found sitting quietly on a chair in the dining room, where I presume he had been hosting state dinners for foreign dignitaries.

Babar still lives with me, stored safely on a shelf in my bedroom, where he can watch over things.

Tell me about your childhood stuffed animal (and share a picture if you’ve got one!).

Until next week,

Danielle