What Stuffed Animals? I Don't Remember Any Stuffed Animals

Here's a story that every parent can relate to, from Lynn of South Florida:

This is more of a confession than a funny story, but since my daughters are both adults now, I suppose it's time.

Lindsay and Brooks....the movers did not lose boxes of your stuffed animals when we moved from Miami to West Palm Beach.  I GAVE THEM AWAY.  What's worse, I donated them and took a tax deduction on them.  I sorted the ones I didn't think you'd miss (wrong again), and gave away dozens of them.  Maybe close to 100.  I only counted when I actually donated them, and we secreted away the tax forms so you wouldn't stumble upon them and discover us.

I knew they would need to be in storage for at least six months when we built the house, and who knew that a 6-year-old (Brooks, I'm talking about you) would have kept a ledger of her stuffed animals.  Mea culpa.

Think of it this way...since we got a tax deduction on the donation and then paid the bulk of your college tuition, we were actually paying forward with your stuffed animals.  And Brooks, since you are 26 and living in a foreign country now, and since your closet is still packed solid with stuffed animals, stacks of flute sheet music and child size 6 costumes, I'd say you still came out on the positive side of that ledger.

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If you like Diane's humorous take on moving, you'll love her book Home Sweet Homes: How Bundt Cakes, Bubble Wrap, and My Accent Helped Me Survive Nine Moves.