The case of the missing diaper bag left me feeling very unsettled. I talked to my neighbor and learned she had found the cup and the book in the street. A few minutes later, the neighbor drove off and found two of my board books at a nearby intersection. She brought them back to my house. We decided whoever took the bag must have started rooting through it and tossed out these inconsequential items. It seemed we might be able to follow a trail of baby belongings and ultimately find the bag.
I was so grateful that my wallet, phone, camera, and checkbook were stowed safely in a separate purse. The thief wouldn't find anything particularly valuable in the diaper bag, so we hoped the chances of recovering it were good.
Garry, who got home from work just after I finished my last post, received the news with as much incredulity as I felt. We felt mystified and violated. We contemplated calling the police but anticipated their laughter at such a silly report. I almost emailed the head of our neighborhood watch but opted to do it later. Garry and I still wanted to get on with our date! We jumped in the car and started scouring the streets, hoping to pick up the diaper bag trail.
Just a few blocks away, at the entrance to our subdivision, we spotted the bag! It was tucked behind some bushes, right next to a brick wall. If we hadn't been scouring for it, we never would have seen it. I jumped out of the car and snatched the bag, surprised that it was so full.
As we examined the bag, the truth quickly became apparent: there was no thief.
Though Tyler left diaper bag in the driveway, its strap must have caught in the van's sliding door. The cup and book most likely fell out when I backed out of the driveway. When I stopped at the first neighborhood intersection, two more books fell out (and I probably ran over them...they have some road rash). It seems the van dragged the bag five blocks, and then, when I stopped at a bigger intersection, the bag somehow fell free from the door's mighty grip. I drove on, oblivious, leaving the bag behind. Some kind soul probably saw the diaper bag and tucked it safely away where we would find it if we went looking.
The items I stowed in the outer pockets of the bag -- containers of formula and cereal, a spoon, a bib, a bottle, a binky -- are thrashed. The pockets are full of dirt, the plastic webbing from the straps is melted and torn, and the side pouches are torn. The interior contents -- extra clothes and diapers -- are perfectly preserved. I'm just glad to have my stuff back, ruined or not.
I am most grateful for the renewed sense of peace and security I feel now that I know the missing diaper bag was my fault! Thoughts of a creepy guy trolling my neighborhood streets made me very uncomfortable. I'm so glad this crazy experience just amounted to good blog fodder!
And hey, since I am now out one very functional diaper bag...can any of you recommend a great one?
6 comments:
Ha ha! What a great story. I'm glad it had a (mostly) happy ending.
What a huge relief. I had first wondered if it was left on the roof of the van when you pulled out, but then you said Tyler left it in the driveway. Either way, happy that's all it was. Unlike you I would be out all the more valuable, expensive and hard to replace items since I have now moved to a shoulder bag with a big ziploc of diapers, wipes, disposable bibs,etc. with sippy cup and baby meds in end pockets. We basically have one bag for the whole family.
We can relate. Lloyd's planner was "stolen" the night we tried to leave the state for his job interview here. After lots of hassles reporting and replacing everything, we found it wedged very far under our driver's seat 2 years later.
That made me laugh because we had a similar problem last summer. Taylor had his swimming stuff in his back pack and about half way to the pool he couldn't find his bag at all so we turned around to go home and get it from the garage. As we pulled into the garage I couldn't see the bag, but when Taylor opend the van door to go inside and look for his bag he discovered his bag. We had drug it down the highway for proably 5 miles and it was still hanging on with lots of road rash! I was bummed I had to buy him a new back pack but other than that everything survived.
sigh!
Oh man, great ending! I was so nervous for you at the end of part one, so I'm glad it was just a thrilling ride for your bag.
I haven't had an entire diaper bag go missing like that, but we had a sippy cup go mysteriously missing. As we drove to church a day or so later, I saw a sippy cup that looked *exactly* like ours in a gutter. It was several intersections away from our home. Maybe it was during church that I put everything together, or maybe it was after I picked up the cup on the way home that I figured out the sequence of events. The sippy cup had gone outside to hydrate a thirsty Sean who was outside digging in the dirt (the functional definition of "working in the yard" right now). The sippy cup was set on the minivan bumper and overlooked. We went somewhere later that day in the van, and apparently it wasn't until several neighborhood intersections from our home that we turned with enough acceleration to knock the cup from its perch, where it must have rolled into the gutter. It's nice when there are benign explanations for strangeness. I'm glad your missing bag was not involved in malevolence.
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