Forgotten Items

I don't know if it's spring fever or temporary amnesia or what, but my kids are forgetting EVERYTHING lately.  And by forgetting, I mean forgetting important items that they have managed to remember all year long.  Here is a list of some of the most important forgotten items.


DATE: Thursday before April vacation
CULPRIT: Julia
ITEM FORGOTTEN: Her flute
LOCATION OF FORGOTTEN ITEM: Chorus room at the 7th-8th grade school, where she has after-school Select Choir twice a week.
IMPORTANCE LEVEL OF ITEM: Uh, pretty high.  Seeing as it was two days before school vacation and Julia does not attend that school, only taking the bus there after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, she was looking to be without her flute for over 10 days.
REACTION TO REALIZATION OF FORGOTTEN ITEM: Epic meltdown.  Followed by stubborn denial that there was any hope to the situation.
SAVER-OF-THE-DAY: Me.  We drove back over to the school once Julia realized she'd forgotten her flute, and although all after-school activities were over, there was luckily one entrance still open - contrary to Julia's insistence that the whole school would be locked up.  The Select Choir Director was still in the chorus room, so Julia was able to retrieve her flute.



DATE: Tuesday of this week
CULPRIT: Julia
ITEM FORGOTTEN: Her I-Pad
LOCATION OF FORGOTTEN ITEM: Her bedroom
IMPORTANCE LEVEL OF ITEM: Again, high.  Sixth graders receive school-issued I-Pads at the start of the year, and ALL assignments are done on the I-Pads, ALL assignments are submitted through the I-Pads, and all schoolwork is recorded in the I-Pads.  It's kind of required that you have yours at school every day.
REACTION TO REALIZATION OF FORGOTTEN ITEM: Inner panic, leading to very polite text asking me to drop it off at the school office.
SAVER-OF-THE-DAY: Again, me.  And let's face it: Who DOESN'T want to drive all the way across town to drop off an I-Pad before work?  Especially when work is back in the total other direction from the 6th grade school?  Makes for a fun adrenaline-pumping morning!



DATE: Wednesday evening
CULPRIT: Madeleine
ITEM FORGOTTEN: Her water bottle
LOCATION OF FORGOTTEN ITEM: The car
IMPORTANCE LEVEL OF ITEM: Medium.  I had dropped the girls at swim team practice.  The coaches require everyone to bring a water bottle, because they are sick and tired of kids using "I'm thirsty" as an excuse to get out of the pool, trudge through the lobby dripping pool water all over the place, and use the water fountain.  That being said, I'm pretty sure Madeleine can make it through an hour's workout without a water break, or, if worst comes to worst, get permission to drip on through the lobby to use the water fountain.
REACTION TO REALIZATION OF FORGOTTEN ITEM: Near tears (according to Julia, who very politely and apologetically texted me to see if I could drive the water bottle back over to the Y.)
SAVER-OF-THE-DAY: Me.  Again.  I don't think I would have bothered if I'd actually gotten home, but since I was still driving, I figured I could manage to turn around and head back.  It elevated my grumpiness level but wasn't enough to send me off the deep end.


DATE: Thursday evening
CULPRIT: Madeleine
ITEM FORGOTTEN: Her bathing suit
LOCATION OF FORGOTTEN ITEM: The Y
IMPORTANCE LEVEL OF ITEM: Meh.  At this point I was ready to just let her take her chances and see if it was there the next time she went to swim.  It's not like she doesn't have other bathing suits.
REACTION TO REALIZATION OF FORGOTTEN ITEM: Calm and matter-of-fact.  "Oh shoot.  I think I left my bathing suit at the Y."
SAVER-OF-THE-DAY: Ethan.  He hadn't reached the level of saver-of-the-day weariness that I had, so he offered to drive her back to the Y so she could look for it.  She found it in the locker room and all was well.  Again, all would have been well whether or not we went back for the suit, but I am extremely grateful to Ethan for taking one for the team because I wasn't up to it.  And to Madeleine for not melting down about it.  In fact, that's the main reason why Ethan was so willing to take her back to the Y to retrieve it, because she had handled the realization so maturely.


In a nutshell: these kids have GOT to get their brains screwed back in.  Get it THE HECK together, girls!