Help! I hid my daughter's switch and now I'm in trouble!

[supercalifragilicious]

So the story goes like this:
My pre-teen daughter was being naughty, didn't do as she was told (nicely), chatted back in a super-cheeky way, rolled her eyes, lied and then didn't do as she was told again. So I got very cross and took her Switch... And hid it somewhere in the house, told her she will get it back when her behaviour improves.
Fast forward a few weeks... I cannot find the bloody thing... I took apart the whole house... left no thing unturned. It's just gone. It's so strange. I usually remember where I put things. This time, it's like I have a black hole, it's like someone erased the memory of me hiding it. It's like I have an amnesia to this specific moment in time when I was hiding it. I know I hid it but I don't know where.
Since it was also my husband's Switch I am now having to buy him a new one... If I can't find it (deadline set to a week).

Any ideas of how to retrieve this memory please? Any strategies for finding lost subjects? I don't want to buy a new one, it's expensive!

It's with the mythical Mumsnet vanishing ironing board

Do not buy another if you’re sure it’s in the house. I good luck op!

It’ll turn up the day after, always the way!

I dunno where you put it, but hot tip for next time - I just take the cords or the controllers

Ha! My DM used to do this ALL the time when we were kids In fact I sent her your thread and she immediately said, "Tell her to check under the mattress and put her hand in further than she thinks. Also the airing cupboard because they never check in there..."

Did you put it in a handbag? I find all manner of shite in old handbags.

I still suspect DD... You don't know for certain that you'd have caught her playing it. Maybe she's only done it a couple of times when you were out or asleep.

Hmm. Under bed drawers or tucked under mattress. Back of a drawer. On top of a bookshelf and fallen down. Back in the box it came in. Behind spares of kitchen roll or tins or sthg.
YY think through scene. Did you stomp off upstairs? Anything that might have distracted you mid hiding?

I’m pretty sure my mum put away my Nintendo ds and 10 yrs later have no idea what happened to it!

Maybe it’s just one those items that go missing and never come back

Say the name of it repeatedly while searching. Apparently helps.

Also it could easily be face down or at a silly angle and you looked straight past it.

Behind books on a bookcase? It’s the kind of thing that would slide into a gap behind them quite nicely. Try thinking behind or between stuff as it’s quite slim.

Inside a purse you don't use.

If you are certain it isn’t in the house, did you put it in the car or take it to work?

My son hides his tablet in a cupboard in the bathroom and uses it while pretending to go to the loo. Have you looked in bathroom in every nook and cranny.

I guarantee your daughter found it used and has re lost it.

Under her bed behind her bed in pile of laundry in her bed ?

[quote Phepho]@Northernsoullover
In or on something green, fuzzy, like the fabric of a snooker table?[/quote]
Green & fuzzy, like mould? You haven't confiscated some yoghurt or cheese at the same time have you?
Your DH sounds like he's more concerned about his toy than your DDs behaviour.

Try within folded clothes / towels / bedding either in drawers or wardrobe shelves. I've done this a few times with phones, iPads etc. Can easily and quickly slip them between clothes within seconds and forget ever doing it as putting away this stuff is so frequent. Where you doing any housework at the time? It's also likely somewhere you would consider a "safe" place for an expensive item so unlikely to be in areas you would think it could get water or heat damage from. Your brain would instinctively do this so think of logical places in your house you would consider this if hiding 😂 Maybe if you or your DH have laptop bags / office areas/desks or work drawers?

Also agree about retracing your steps that day and thinking of what you done exactly after or rough idea of how the day started/carried on. Where did the chat back take place and where were you when you removed the item from her? All these questions may help prompt your brain into remembering.

Good Luck 🤞🏾

In a bag or handbag.

Where was the first place you looked for it? It’s most likely to be there or somewhere very close, so start dismantling that piece of furniture

God I can fully imagine myself doing this. I think it’s small enough to miss when you are searching. My guess would be it’s still in the house rather than it’s no longer in the house. I today understand why your husband would want it replaced (if you don’t play video games you don’t get this). Can you get someone else to look as well. I often find another pair of eyes really helpful.

When I lost some important paperwork, I started panicking, but I then forced myself to slow down, take a few deep breaths and think of the place that I thought it was in. It's weird because I had already searched that place several times, but I searched again slowly and sure enough it was in the exact place I thought it would be. Maybe try it.

I wouldn't be buying a replacement though. Has your husband helped to look?

Check DD's bedroom, she's found it and isn't telling you.

You're DD has it. I'd put money on it. Is she your first teen? The level of deception can be quite alarming the first time you encounter it. Take her room apart. Take drawers out of dressers. It's flat enough to be under a drawer.

Is there a place you keep rechecking? If so, check there again, but more thoroughly 😀

Failing that, bathroom cabinet drawers.

We got a lockup box. Best investment ever. Sweets go in there too! Helps me to avoid eating them too often.