Clear See Thru Backpack and the Case of the Missing Puppy

Who would have thought? A clear see thru backpack and a missing puppy. Having children, I think – and tell everyone after my second glass of wine – is a three-stage experience. At first they are formless beings that are alternately cute and horrifying but are largely free from opinions and individual will. Then comes the second stage, which lasts approximately until they are thirty years old, when they begin to think they have their own ideas about what to do with their time, and complain loudly when you forbid it. Complain, or, in the case of my own children, scheme.

This is a story about me solving a mystery and smashing a smuggling ring. It involves an adorable puppy named Yolo, a pink clear see thru backpack, and two daughters possessed of incredibly audacity.

It starts with the adoption of Yolo, a shivering puppy in the local shelter. Under our care, Yolo quickly filled out, growing the most amazing coat of shining golden fur that had me contemplating eating dog food in the hopes it would make my own hair shine like that. Yolo was, without question, the cutest puppy I’d ever seen. I came to really enjoy our afternoons together with him sleeping on my belly as I relaxed before the girls come home from school.

Then, one day, Yolo went missing. I raced around, searching everywhere, shaking his kibble bag – nothing. When the time came to get the girls I spent the whole ride home an emotional wreck, wondering how I would break the news. I sent the girls inside and took one last walk around the yard, just in case – and there he was! Looking fit and happy, he bounded over to me. Everything was saved.

I walked the perimeter, looking for his escape route, and could find nothing. Then I got caught up in the usual evening activities. The next day, I took the girls to school, came home, and Yolo was nowhere to be seen. I had a repeat of the day before: Emotional distress, worry, and then Yolo appearing in the house like magic. Except that night when I opened my daughters’ backpacks looking for their lunchboxes, I was hit with the unfortunately familiar scent of dog poop. And all became clear.

I immediately went online and found The Clear Bag Store. ordered two large pink clear see thru backpacks from The Clear Bag Store, collected my daughters and Yolo in the kitchen, and told them sternly that smuggling their puppy into school with them wasn’t healthy for poor little Yolo or for them, if I was going to be faced with cleaning poop out of their backpacks. And so henceforth they would use clear backpacks that allow me to visually inspect their bags every morning to make sure they were puppy free. And now I have my belly-napping puppy back. Although he’s not a puppy any more, and I’m starting to worry about being suffocated, but at least he’s not pooping in backpacks any more!