Children losing stuff

[80schild]

I have a 7 and 6 year old. I started the school year feeling faintly optimistic that they were growing up a bit and becoming more responsible. It seems like they are regressing though - both of them are constantly losing stuff. This week we have lost a coat, homework book, and two toothbrushes. I just can't take it anymore. Aside from the fact I am irritated by it, I can see it is affecting them with me constantly reminding them and nagging them.

Just make sure that you label everything, I love my sharpie!

Toothbrush?

Mine have mild sen so organisation is not a strong point. I tend to buy super bright coats and labell with big black sharpie. It's a small school so luckily most things are easily tracked down.

I have numbered DS's cardigans so I can track which ones leave and enter the house. After a few conversations along the lines of "you went into school with cardigan #3, you need to look for it in the morning", and not sending another in with him, cardigan losses seem to have calmed down considerably!

I love the idea of numbering things where they have multiples of them.
7yo DD has improved marginally since I started following through more with consequences. She never seems to know where her toothbrush is (how??) and I decided I was no longer help her look. I warned her we were introducing this system, reminded her of the existence of her toothbrush holder etc. She has only "lost" it once since then as I didn't help & just calmly said it was a pity that her mouth was feel funny and her breath would probably smell strange by the end of the day and, if that continued, her friends may start avoiding her. I felt really mean but it did the trick. She also had to wear a too small cardigan to school one day as she has two, one of which went missing on the Monday & the other on the Tuesday. She suddenly found her voice & went and asked at the office as they're supposed to do at her school.