The Captain has been bugging us lately to let him bring Lego to school. Apparently a bunch of boys are allowed to bring a bagful, and then they play with it at recess.
I have problems with him taking Lego to school because I have completionist issues. I cannot go to sleep at night if there is a puzzle piece missing or a slice of the wooden play cake. I like sets to be kept together and to be completely accounted for at all times. Heaven forbid we shake out the shapes ball to find the hexagon is missing. HOUSE-WIDE SEARCH ALERT.
So needless to say, if some Lego goes missing, I will never sleep again. Because how will we be able to recreate the snow speeder with four snow troopers exactly as it appears on the box, if we are missing that 2×1 white piece that is critical to the ship’s hull? HOW, I ask you?
Also, I have been very wary in the past of dealing with the potential fallout if something does get lost or (eep) stolen. The Captain is almost as bad as I am for hoarding and sorting and making sure every last thing is accounted for. He’d be heartbroken.
Anyway, I finally caved in a couple of weeks ago and let him take some generic pieces that didn’t belong to any set. He didn’t lose anything, so from there we worked up to letting him take some generic people. I had to draw the line at the big dudes – can you imagine if we lost Lego Han Solo or Lego Indiana Jones? – but I did let him take a policeman. Then an astronaut.
Then yesterday, one of the criminals from his Space Police set, this guy:
He had him in his hand when he came out of the school. He had him in his hand after going through the woods with his friend Indy.
Then we got home, and Indy came in for a playdate. Then Indy went home, and suddenly, there were tears.
The Captain could not find octopus-head-guy (Kranxx, if you must know). He was sure he had dropped him on the walk home.
But by now, Little Miss Sunshine was hysterical with exhaustion and I was trying to keep her locked down. I had started dinner and there were three separate pots boiling on the stove. It was getting dark. There was no way I could take him out to look for it.
And oh, the weeping. The sadness that goes right to the bottom of your heart. I always feared this day would come.
Sir Monkeypants stopped on his way home to look along the length of road where The Captain was sure he had dropped it, but no luck. Later, I had to go out and I also stopped on my way home to check another length of pathway. Still nothing.
We were both pretty sure that some other kid had found Kranxx and was happily introducing him to some other Lego friends.
Meanwhile, at home, the Captain kept crying. And crying. And crying. Sir Monkeypants finally settled him into bed but we were all sad and worried.
This morning we got up extra early and got ready extra early so we could take our time walking to school, checking the whole way for an orange-headed Lego guy. Nothing, of course. I was impressed though, the Captain managed to hold it together and went into the school sadly, but without sobbing.
Then I came home from dropping the kids off and Sir Monkeypants said to me, “What did that Lego guy look like?”
And I was all, “Orange squid head.”
And he was all, “Black top? Vest?”
Me: “Yes, and holding a…”
Him: “…grey gun?”
Me: “Um, yes, that’s amazing, how did you know?”
Him: “IS THIS HIM???”
UNBELIEVABLE. He was on Sir Monkeypants’ bedside table THE ENTIRE TIME.
Think of the grey hairs, Captain! I cannot afford this kind of stress!
TurtleHead 
OMG, that made me snort. I have totally gone through similar dramas with the kids. Oh, the heart-wrenching sorry! Oh, the eye-rolling when you realize the lost object was HERE THE ENTIRE TIME! But doesn’t it make a great blog post? 🙂
Yup, I feel exactly the same way. I’m needlessly anal myself about complete sets and everything-in-its-place, but that paranoia has beneficial side effects, as you point out, because kids don’t deal with disappointment well.
I do feel, however, that when in a situation like this something truly does get lost forever, it teaches an important life lesson that can build character – things get lost, it’s not the end of the world, and life can go on. Oh, and the kids can learn from it too.
P.S. is it just me, or does that Lego guy look like he comes from a Lego Slipknot figurine set?
i am living the exact same thing. though with a 3 1/2 yr old, and bringing his lego to daycare. yesterday one of his lego clone troopers lost a hand. oh the drama!
and we have the same snow glider and 4 rebel trooper guys. the guy in orange is sev seneska. don’t ask me how i know.
oh, and we don’t have kranxx, but the squid man.
on the up side, i don’t have the completism issue you do. and i am very thankful, because i would be a complete lunatic and they would have to take me away to somewhere where the walls are padded and the lego stays in its original box.
Oh god yes — it would destroy my soul if a piece was missing at the end of the day. Every time we got one of those Lego sets I would groan because I would foresee the agony and despair when the actual web-shooting Spiderman went missing.
Also, cripes — who could sleep with that on their bedside table?
Oh my goodness that is stress. But I am glad you found him. Perhaps a homing device?
LOL. All that worry for nothing! I’m glad Kranxx isn’t lost, but this could be a good lesson to Captain about the importance of keeping track of his things!
I have to forcibly keep myself out of the playroom. The need to organize it all, complete the sets and the like is just overwhelming. I feel your pain.
Two weeks ago, I actually took photos of the Little Man’s toys, made them into LAMINATED cards and put them on his toy bins – so that he’d know in which bin to put a particular toy. Obsessive much?
I long for the day I can simply be happy if toys get picked up off the floor every now and then.
I wish I was as obsessive about sets etc!! Our Playmobil is in one big bin, babies too, same with Lego. Having said that, the kids know that if they take items out of the house and they get lost it’s totally their responsibility. So far we haven’t had any tears and I don’t know if anything has been lost.
I am obsessive about clean floors, empty garbages, and things being put away (just not in the most organized manor!).
My son couldn’t keep a lego set together to save his soul. He mixes them constantly. Very rarely will you see anything built to look as it should. I now hate buying the sets but there is very little generic lego out there.
I have SO been there. I have combed the backyard, the disgusting recesses of the van, the basement, only to find the freaking toy in question in the most obvious (but unobserved) places. Also? We used to have the Little People Noah’s Ark and heaven forbid if one of those animal couples broke up. HEAVEN FORBID.