There’s something about soft toys. It might be their eyes, or their cuddle-factor. Or maybe it’s the way they look when they’re all bundled together on a freshly made bed. It’s as if they really are waiting for you to leave the room just so they can move again.

Our soft toys seem to be multiplying. I’m not sure how they do it, but I find myself asking, Where did we get that one? How did we get so many…

During a clean out over the last holidays, soft toys were top of the list. My daughter is at the stage where the toddler toys and board books only get pulled out for visitors. So, much the same as Cassie and Hannah at the end of Sister Spirit, we started working through her things, deciding which ones could be given away.

When we came to the soft toys, I hit a brick wall. No matter how bedraggled the toy, she always found a reason to keep it.

‘What about the big dolphin? It takes up so much room.’

‘Maddie gave it to me.’

‘What about this strange red monster thing?’

‘He’s a dinosaur, and he’s married to pony.’

By the time we’d worked through all the soft toys I’d barely found any to give away. I did, however, know all their stories – which ones had been on which adventure, which ones that had been sent by loved-ones who lives a distance away. They had stopped being fluffy cushions with eyes and almost become friends.

These days the soft toys sit on top of my daughter’s chest of drawers, and even though they’re not played with very often, they’re still part of her room. At night when I whisper sweet dreams and shut the door, I’m glad that she has them in there, with her.

The whole process has made the think of the first thing I ever bought with my own money (from babysitting at $3 an hour). It was a pale blue, fluffy elephant. When I moved out of home I gave it to the op shop and

I can’t help wondering where he is.

I hope he’s in someone’s room just being there for them.