To think my 14-year-old DS should be able to find his shoes?

[StuntNun]

DS1 went to school fifteen minutes late with his hiking boots on because he couldn't find his school shoes. DH, I and DS2 all helped look for them but they can't be found anywhere. He came in from school yesterday wearing them and went straight up to his bedroom but we've turned it upside-down and they're not there. Is this normal behaviour for teenage boys?

[Wingsofdesire]

I think it's reasonable for anyone. I forget where I put things too.

School shoes are notoriously difficult, as are often thrown off in abandon, in moments of complete joy at being home and therefore no chance of concentrating on where the shoes went.

[Longdistance]

Fucking hell.

I can't believe some people do their 14 yo shoe laces. My dd is 7 and she intermittently wears laces, but can still do them.

Both dd's are told as soon as they get in, coats and shoes off. That's where they'll find them in the morning.

Yanbu, he should be able to find them.

[Whitelisbon]

My dd has 3 school shoes. That's 3 odd school shoes. Apparently, the others definitely aren't in her bedroom, no way, she's looked everywhere, they're not there!
She's now got 3 days of lunchtime detention for going to school in her trainers, so that should hopefully help her find the other 3 shoes, or she'll have more detention to do.
I was going to help look, until she accused me of hiding them. She's on her own now .

[Topseyt]

It is normal, unfortunately.

My DD3 is 14 now and has been the worst of mine. Every time the question "where's my xxx?" starts my stock response is "wherever you last put it."

She lost her school skirt once and I told her she would just have to go to school without it. Magically, she found it.

[SavageBeauty73]

Normal in our house.

[lizzyj4]

It's definitely normal for all the boys in my house, including ones who are no longer teenagers so don't even have that excuse I don't help look though, unless it's a dire emergency, like they're going to be late for work.

[Chasingsquirrels]

I just can't get my head round this.

I've got a 14yo boy - I just can't imagine a scenario where I'd tie his laces unless he was physically incapable of doing so - although I did rethread one the other day while he did the other one, having had the lace break as he was leaving to catch the bus.

Do the shoe losers wear shoes round the house?
Our shoes are taken off at the door, and they each have a box in the bench seat next to the door.
If they make it home with them (and this isn't to say that always happens - pe last lesson and coming home in trainers) then they will be in the box - or on the floor next to the bloody box and I'll be shouting them to put them away when I walk past!

They occasionally get 'lost' if they've been out the back, but they aren't lost they just haven't looked by the back door.

[lizzyj4]

Re tieing laces, I have a child with HFA and a child with dyspraxia, who have both had trouble learning to tie shoe laces. My 13 yo, who has dyspraxia, still struggles with laces.

[Noodoodle]

lizzyj4 until we found out ds has dyspraxia I couldn't understand how by the age of 12 he still hadn't grasped how to tie shoes properly and consistently. We ended up buying a lot of velcro shoes.

[StuntNun]

Hooray the shoes have been found. Anyone want to guess where they were? I'll give you a clue, we had already searched all reasonable places.

[Noodoodle]

Oh my gosh, you were still looking for them?! Under the sofa?

[gleam]

The fridge!

[TizzyDongue]

On top of his wardrobe

[StuntNun]

They were under his mattress. He swears he doesn't know how they got there. Let's just say he's no Princess and the Pea.

[HateSummer]

I bet one is in a different place to the other. My 3 year old does this. One shoe in one room, the other on the shoe rack. To think she'll still be doing it aged 14 fills me with terror 😱