The Skeleton That Would Not Stay "Dead"

You can't really tell in this picture, but this skeleton is pretty dirty. Its head has come off twice and been glued back together. My five-year-old got it trick-or-treating last October and it should have made its way to the trash long before now.

So, why is it still laying around our condo?

Because, my boys love it. And because it apparently has the ability to keep coming back home, regardless of wherever or for however long we manage to lose it. Kind of like that cat in the song, "The Cat Came Back."

Case in point: Last Fall, I took the boys for a walk to a children's consignment store on Main St. We visit this store fairly often. G brought the skeleton with him. The boys played in the store as I browsed; once I found the skeleton lying abandoned on the floor and returned it to G, who was happy to have it back. Then, once we'd gone out the door, all of a sudden G cried, "My skeleton is gone!" So we had to go back inside and hunt for the skeleton until we found it; the store owner even helped.

A week or so later we returned to the same store and when the store owner saw us he said, "Oh hey, I found something that belongs to you," and presented G with...the skeleton. He had found it right outside the door next to the dumpster and, figuring my son would miss it, picked it up and brought it inside to hold until our return. *Sigh*

A couple months ago, G brought the skeleton to "Nana's" house to play with there. After that, I didn't see the skeleton for many days. I thought maybe G had finally lost and forgotten it.

Then one day, we showed up at Nana's house and my nephew-- who happened to be there-- said excitedly to G, "I found your skeleton!" And gave it back to him.

The boys' interest in this skeleton seems to have finally waned, and if they never saw the skeleton again I expect they wouldn't be too devastated, but I can't be certain. I'm too afraid to throw it out with the garbage for fear one or other of my boys would choose that day to rekindle an interest in the toy and then I'd have to confess my crime...

I would find a way to secretly mail the toy to some deprived kid on the other side of the world, but for fear it would only come back "return to sender."

I need to think of a way to successfully "lose" it while making it look like an accident...Any suggestions?