Lost and then found

Earlier this week, I discovered that Jesse’s jacket was missing. Later on, he had a second jacket missing! I was NOT happy he’d forgotten or lost two of his jackets and I let him know as much. I told him he was going to have to wear his heavy coat if it was cold or if we had rain. (Believe me, we have had a lot of both this week!)

Meanwhile, I knew I had to do something about those lost coats. Ordinarily, when Jesse loses a clothing item at the school or on the bus, it ends up in Lost & Found at the school. (I have made MANY trips to Lost & Found at the school because of both kids forgetting or losing things there. However, a jacket Jesse forgot at the school one time ended up in the library, so I started including the library in my search for lost clothes.) So I made a trip to the school’s Lost & Found to look for the jackets.

Now, before I continue, I must say that the school has A LOT of clothing in Lost & Found. They have so much that, including the area of a room set aside for it, they also have two other tables nearby with clothes on them. Then there’s the two more tables in another room containing more piles of clothes.

Yep, it’s that bad. But I never realized just HOW bad until I went searching again today.

On my second trip to Lost & Found (I always allow for a couple of days in between visits in case clothing turns up somewhere it wasn’t seen before), I found what I thought was one of Jesse’s jackets. It was really similar to his but not exactly the same. Still, I thought it was his! (I know, I know; I really MUST put his initials on all of his jackets!) So I took it thinking it was his.

But later in the day, Jesse took a better look at it and told me it wasn’t his jacket. His doesn’t have a white interior and the back of the jacket had more blue whereas his was more red. (It’s red and blue in the back.) My suspicions confirmed, I decided to take it back to the school’s Lost & Found. But before I did that, it struck me that I should check in with the Boys & Girls Club too. (I had already checked the Lost & Found at the gymnastics academy that Jesse goes to once a week and I figured if he had left it at the piano instructor’s house, she would have let me know by now.)

So first I went to the Boys & Girls Club to ask if they had a Lost & Found. They most certainly did! And before I knew it, a giant trash bag filled with clothes, a backpack, caps and a pair of shoes was placed on the table. It was a big bag of stuff! But it didn’t stop there. They also brought out a crate filled with more clothes. I went through both of them. It was worth it: I found one of Jesse’s jackets. Hooray! And, yes, it was the right one. I automatically knew it was his when I saw it. It was DEFINITELY his! (And I mentally kicked myself for taking the wrong one. But they were so similar! Ugh!)

After that was done, I drove to the school to return the wrong jacket. I also went through two of the four tables to look for the other jacket. No luck. I was about to go where the official Lost & Found was located when I turned to see the janitor walk towards the cafeteria, which is what I was in front of. We usually make small talk whenever I see him and we did so then. I shared with him my difficulty in finding that one other jacket and the many visits I have made to Lost & Found. He told me there was one other area where “lost and found” clothing was kept and took me to that spot. There on the floor sat five ginormous trash bags filled with clothes. And a jacket thrown over one of them for good measure.

My eyes widened. “This is all lost and found?” I asked in surprise, indicating the bags.

He nodded.

I could not believe it. That was a lot of stuff to go through!

I told him I would go ahead and search through the bags. Before he left, he smiled and wished me luck. 

I stood there, staring at the bags. Then I sighed, shook my head and thought, Let’s do this.

I opened and searched through all five of those big bags. It was quite a job! As I searched, I was wondering how lost or forgotten clothing could get to be so bad. Weren’t there other parents coming here to look for a lost jacket or a lost sweatshirt?

Well, my search of those bags was in vain. The jacket was not in there, either. I couldn’t believe it! Where the heck did that other jacket go??

I finished my search of the official Lost & Found and came out of that empty-handed, too. As I left, I thanked the janitor for his help.

Later in the day, after the kids were home, I decided to turn the house upside down to look for that other jacket. It didn’t just disappear! First I searched the van, looking under seats and everything. No jacket. I knew it wasn’t in the coat closet, because I’d already cleaned out the coat closet earlier in the week, looking for the jacket in there. But as I was headed for Jesse’s bedroom, thinking maybe I’ll look on his closet floor or under his bed, the door to the linen closet caught my eye. I stared at it, wondering if I should search it. I thought, Bhere’s nothing but shoes, blankets, sheets, towels and pillows in there.

Still, something encouraged me to open that door. So I did.

And there on the floor was the other missing jacket! It had been Right There all along! Good grief!!! (And, yes, I did let out a scream of frustration, along with a good slap to my forehead.)

Well, I was glad that I had finally found both of Jesse’s missing jackets. It’s a good thing he has another jacket to wear again, too, because when I picked him up from school today, he informed me that he’d forgotten his jacket at school, and when we went there, he couldn’t find it.

Looks like I’ll need to pay another visit to the school’s Lost & Found.