Prolog: Five minutes before the bus is due to arrive I hear, "MOM! I can't find my shoes!" from my 5 year old daughter. "Did you look in the shoebox," comes my ready answer. "I did and I can only find one," is her reply. Of course, it can never be that easy.

The Great Shoe Hunt: So, after a quick finish on a diaper change to a very wiggly toddler I dash to her room to help. "AAAAAAHHHHH! Look at this room," I cry. "No wonder you can't find anything in here!" She just grins sheepishly up at me, as if she is just too cute to get mad at. "Well, let's dig in and see what we can find," I sigh.

After attacking under the bed and in the closet we only come up with a neon green sandal (that has seen better days, but could fit in a pinch). Now, as we sit there looking at 2 shoes without their mates, my son yells, "MOM! the bus just left!" "Okay, I guess you guys are car riders today," I announce to their poorly disguised delight.

Now we get serious and start others on a mad search around the house, while my daughter and I continue with her trash heap, er room. Half an hour later we turn up one (still neon green) sandal, one pokemon tennis shoe and one power puff girl tennis shoe. All loners and none I could even attempt to match up, unless I wanted her to walk around school funny - not to mention the apparent ridicule she swears she will endure. Everyone is stressed out by this time and we are approaching a time of no return, called... (DUM DUM DUM) "Late For School!"

Oh boy, what do I do, I think. Only one place left to look, that I can think of and so I head, shaking, to the toy box. If I thought the room was bad, that box was worse. Who knows what lurks in there. We could hide a circus and it's animals in there and they wouldn't be found for a week. With no time to lose, I break down and begin my search. Twenty minutes later, amidst half eaten cookies and apples (hey, don't we have a rule about NO food in the bedrooms?), legos and ripped papers I find (TA DA!) a sandal!

Epilog: Thanking my lucky stars we live in the south, I help my daughter into her (bright and did I mention neon green) sandals. Then we race (let me see you race with 4 kids), to the car and make it in time to hear the late bell ring...

By Holly Bliss