This Saturday we went to the Zoo. It was much fun, for the first 10 minutes, then I realised that my daughters beloved bear (who is centre of the universe) was not with us anymore. He was definitely at Frank Karl Weber with us, and I'm pretty sure he got on the tram..... He never got off the tram.

Fundbüro is closed weekends so I had to explain the bear had got lost, and was riding the trams trying to find us and she will have to make do with spare bear (who is identical, but obviously to a 3 year old not half as good).

Anyway, went to the fundbüro, showed a picture and they gave me the bear. It cost CHF5, but what price my child's joy. She was soooo happy to see him again, that she didn't stop holding his paw, until we came to get off the tram of course........ Don't worry, I had his other hand so he didn't get lost again.

So, I'm really pleased that the Swiss are so law abiding and anal and hand things into the lost and found. And that the fundbüro is so organised and anal that it took the guy 2 seconds to find the bear in the giant pile of forgotten things (it's HUGE). (OK, it took 5 minutes to do the paperwork to get him back....but nevermind)

This is an anti-complaint.

Vielen Dank Swiss. (Unless it was an auslander, then, ta muchly)

Great that your daughter is reunited with her bestest pal! But what about the bear? Was he traumatised by being alone on the trams? Did he enjoy his weekend at the Fundbüro? What did he eat? Did he make new friends?

He was just so pleased to see my daughter that he was overcome with emotion and wouldn't stop crying apparently. He calmed down a bit, enough to eat a biscuit. He was very hungry so I'm not sure if they did feed him much, despite me thinking that CHF5 was for room and board, mind you, that won't pay for much, just brown sugar on bagels. Hopefully he will be back to normal after a day with her at the krippe and we can hear some wonderful stories tonight.

That weak title is never going to get this lovely thread the attention it deserves. Could I change it to something like

Fundbüro - barely true story - a bear's adventure

to liven it up?

Good idea. I have no idea how to do that though.

Maybe if I complain about something people will read and reply to tell me why I'm wrong.

Or just change it to 'Is this enough to live on?'

Lovely story & much better title. I would not have opened it with the original title!

I'm thrilled daughter and bear have been reunited.

Pun title For The Win .

Glad you got your little one's bear back; we lost a little plush squeaky weasel when Mini Mud was Baby Mud and found it weeks later in Manor Geneve, sitting on a shelf near the register in the baby section waiting for her. Thankfully it seems there are a good many folks who realize how important a stuffed animal can be .

I once left my mobile at an ATM, after three minutes realised that I had left it, went back and it was gone. I called my number and it was already at the Fundbüro.

We lost a bear in very similar circumstances and...never found him again. Sob!
But we did get all excited when the Fundbüro told us they had a bear that looked like ours. And they even sent us a photo! But alas it was not to be.

So glad you got your bear back.

Ah, it's always nice to have a nice ending. A good few years ago, we took our boys up the Albis to watch a classic car race. My youngest had taken one of his teddy bears with him. Much later at home, he realised he didn't have it any more. so off I went back up to the top again with my son to look around where we and lots of other people had been sitting that day. And there under the tree, sitting on a folded paper, casually leaning against the trunk with his arm wrapped around an empty bottle of feldschlossen was teddy. It was nice to know that his needs had been met while he was still up there, though my son did say that his teddy wasn't old enough to drink beer.

I lost a pony on the 2.30 at Chepstow. Nobody handed that in, though...

I love these stories. Thankfully my teddy is safe (my mum made him for me when I was a baby, mumble mumble years ago).
I always find it sad when wandering around the Flohmarkt we always see abandoned teddies looking for new homes. A few weeks ago in Zurich we spotted a beautiful teddy bear on a stall stood in a cooking pot. We considered buying him, decided maybe we were being a bit silly, then later changed our minds and spent a desperate ten minutes trying to find the stall, until there he was!
He is now a happy bear again, hopefully his abandonment issues forgotten.

You are very sharp to have an extra of any "favorite" snuggly toy on hand for your little one! I have heard stories of parents willing to pay dearly for a replacement for a toy that is no longer available or manufactured (via Amazon or the like) after their child became attached then lost the toy! If they could only make a magic bottle of powder that would transform the new toy into the much-loved, much-weathered, "specially-scented" original.

Glad your story ended happily, and thanks for sharing!

Oh so relieved for Mr Bear. One or two of our bears have had an overnight stay in the Fundburo and they have not given it a brilliant report on Tripadvisor. Ask your bear to report on his stay.


Last year we had a similar incident with my son's little backpack, packed full of his toy trams and his beloved bear. We managed to mislay it somewhere on Pier E viewing area at Zurich Airport but did not realise it was gone and left the airport and went for lunch.

How did we know it was gone? A phone call from Zurich police, who had found the bag, found my husband's business card, rang his mobile whist he was on business in China (woken him up in middle of the night), who had given them my mobile number to ring me.

We collected the bag an hour later from the police station under the airport, where they waived the fee .. and waved goodbye to the bear who had been sitting on top of the bag at the duty officer's desk.

Feeling all warm inside now from this thread!

it's taken some tracking down Sand.. but I've found him for you... he's fallen on some rough times tho..

We have done that, but the replacement bears are not loved and squashed as the original is. A friend of mine had the foresight to buy 3 bears for her then baby daughter. She rotates them still now (daughter is 5 years old) - bear goes for a wash and out pops replacement bear for the next stint. Her daughter apparently still has no idea there are 3 blankie bears.

Oh that I could be that organised

Here's a true fact:

that kid is going to be due some serious counseling the day she opens the hall cupboard and finds two extra blankie bears sitting there staring at her.

I thought for a moment this was another one of those "Animal Dies in Zoo" stories.

Good that your daughter got her bear back. And good that someone was thoughtful enough to know that it was valuable to somebody.


We give ours a Pepsi bottle to cuddle. They're so easy to replace...

I'd rather lose a pony than a monkey.

Talking of which ..... if you liked the above thread, you'll love this:

Help needed please

[an EF success story]