Surviving the stress of a lost teddy

Last night I had to have a much dreaded chat with three-year-old Big Girl. I had been searching for Teddy while she was in bed waiting to go to sleep, and I couldn’t find him anywhere. During our chat I suddenly noticed a pile of cuddly animals in Big Girl’s room and when I started digging I found our very important family member hidden underneath a glittery pony, a ballerina Minnie and dozen other furry friends.

Phew.

Teddy is incredibly important to us, and that’s why I was excited to receive a teddy chip pack from Richmond Sausages recently, but unfortunately I hadn’t actually attached the chip to Teddy.

If I had attached the chip, I could have used a new Richmond Sausages toy-tracking app designed to help parents and children relocate missing toys. The company is now giving away up to 200,000 chips, which can be attached to a toy, connected to the app, and tracked if the toy were to get lost.

As part of the campaign, they’ve also done research into the stress of lost toys, and what parents do to minimise the risk of childhood trauma.

It turns out we’re one of only 15% of parents who’ve bought multiple versions of the favourite toy, but even though we have a back-up I still found it really upsetting when I thought Teddy had fallen out of the buggy somewhere around Fulham. I got worried about dogs and foxes, and I started picturing where he could be.

Daddy T couldn’t understand why we’d taken Teddy out in the first place, and according to the research, around a third of parents ban the toy from leaving home.

As of tomorrow, I might join them.

To receive a Richmond Sausages toy-tracking chip, pick up a promotional pack of sausages and redeem the code. Winners will receive a chip in the post

Tags: App, iPhone app, Lost and found, Richmond Sausages, Sausages and Chip App, Teddy, Teddy bear picnic, Toy tracking