Once upon a time, I had two children. They loved each other. Maybe because they were 3 1/2 years apart in age and different genders they got along for many years.

Awww, those were the days.

Then, my older child, a boy, entered 4th grade. Suddenly, his little sister was “lame”. This coincided with my daughter’s uncanny ability to push EVERY SINGLE ONE of her big brother’s buttons.

The fighting — over the world’s most stupid stuff – began.

All of this is to give you some context for Saturday morning. I was ready to take Sydney, 6, to an American Girl Tea Party sponsored by our Parks & Rec department. She now has two American Girl dolls and was excited to take them both to the party, where there would be finger sandwiches, drinks, crafts, and hair styling.

Tonight we’re going to party like it’s 1999…

Half an hour before the big event, though, we could only find one of her dolls. It was Caroline Abbott, the newest recruit who arrived in December.

But, Sparkle? Sparkle the first American Girl doll to arrive in our house back in December ’11? Sparkle, the doll I feel that Sydney bestowed with a stripper name? Sparkle, the doll that  made me crazy looking for an ice skating outfit last year? Where was Sparkle?

Sydney and I went on the hunt. Her big brother, Will, joined in to help.

Sparkle was not in the basement.

Not in Sydney’s room.

Not in the family room.

SPARKLE?

Back we went.

Nope, not in the basement.

Not in Sydney’s room.

Not in the family room.

Now I was getting upset and dirty from all that hunting. So was Sydney. Think, think! Sparkle had been to both a play date and a Squirt hockey game recently. Could she have been {gasp} LEFT BEHIND?

Back to the basement.

Back to Sydney’s room.

Back to the family room.

ACK!

Finally, Dad joined the fray.

“Will,” Dad said with authority to our son. “DO YOU KNOW WHERE SPARKLE IS?”

Silence.

“Will!”

“She’s in my closet,” he replied calmly. “I was getting Sydney back.”

You mean I’ve been all over the house for thirty minutes pulling my hair out and the American Girl doll is hidden in your closet? Couldn’t you have let us know, oooooohhhhh, 5 minutes into this vision quest?!

And you were getting Sydney back? Back for what?

Some story about something silly.

Brothers! And Sisters!

Grrrrr!!!!

Sparkle emerged unscathed and she joined Caroline and Sydney at a lovely tea party.

Now I spend my days waiting for my kindergartner to execute her plan of revenge. Stay tuned.

How are the siblings getting along in your house?