Where did all my stuff go?

I came through the front door with a new book in one hand and my purse in the other. I went straight to the kitchen , put the book and my purse on the table. I went to the stove to put the kettle on for some tea, which I was going to drink while I thumbed through said book, turned around and no book. I am still in the kitchen and haven't gone anywhere else. My purse is still on the table but no book. Where's the book?

I just had it. It was right here.Where did it go? Seriously, I just brought it through the front door not 5 minutes ago. I thought for sure I put it on the the kitchen table. Where did that book go? I know I put it on the table.

I was considering the possibility of having been "beamed up" , stepping into an parallel dimension, and other possible causes of memory loss , when my husband walked into the kitchen. Catching the look of obvious confusion plastered on my face, he asked what the problem was.

"I'm losing my marbles", I complained.

"I thought you lost those a long time ago", he jests.

"Most of them, sometime after the twins were born",I said. " I still had a few left, but I think those are gone now too".

"What's up?"

"I just bought a new reference book, put it on the table, and now it's gone."

Grinning, he asks if Marjika, our 5 year old daughter, was in the vicinity when I put the book on the table. I check my daughter's room and sure enough, there's Marjika , relaxing on her bed reading my new book . Boy, she really is slick.

This is a common occurrence in my home. When you have six children, things have a way of growing legs and walking off ,only to be found later in one of the children s rooms. Some of our more useful items have gotten bored with their humdrum day to day existence and have found exciting new lives as make believe airplanes, rockets, and light sabers.

Marjika is the main culprit when it comes to books, especially my design magazines and reference books. They've got great pictures in them, so I can see the attraction. Whenever she's bored with "The Scrawny Tawny Lion" she ducks into my office and picks out something from my library. This wouldn't bug me so much if she wasn't so stealthy. I'll put a book on my desk to reference as I work and she'll come up silently behind me , swipe the book and run back to her room . I reach over to find that the book has vanished. Marjika Strikes again.

She has also adopted my artist model as one of her favorite dolls. Not one of the wooden dummy types, mind you, it's an expensive , Art S Buck, anatomically proportional, one-sixth scale , over 30 points of articulation, manikins. I have to borrow it back from her when I need it for a sketch . All in all , Art seems to be getting along with the barbies just fine.