Help needed for forgetful DS!!!!!!
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Re: Help needed for forgetful DS!!!!!!
I just thought of a tip someone gave me. Buy them a slightly bigger sports bag with a large opening at the top. It is then easier for them to throw their kit into it as soon as they take it off rather than scrambling around on the floor looking for bits of their kit or mixing it up with everyone else's on a bench. It did work with my son, particularly with his swimming kit. I forgot on my earlier post that he also lost a pair of swimming trunks, a towel and a pair of pyjamas which he used for life saving.
Of course they still have to remember not to lose their sports bag!
Of course they still have to remember not to lose their sports bag!
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Re: Help needed for forgetful DS!!!!!!
For school books etc, we use the large plastic wallets. All the books associated with that subject (eg. french book, french text book, french vocab book), stay in that wallet. IT seems to work well.
Also, having a separate PE bag to main bag helps. I was chatting to a mum who's DD used to sling it all in one bag. The result was a broken school bag, and PE kit forgotten. Having a separate bag means the PE kit can stay in the bag, separate to the regular stuff.
Other tip I have is to buy doubles at the beginning of term when everything is on offer. Its worked for us - we've got doubles of calculators, geometry sets, spare second-hand blazer and rugby kit etc!
Also, having a separate PE bag to main bag helps. I was chatting to a mum who's DD used to sling it all in one bag. The result was a broken school bag, and PE kit forgotten. Having a separate bag means the PE kit can stay in the bag, separate to the regular stuff.
Other tip I have is to buy doubles at the beginning of term when everything is on offer. Its worked for us - we've got doubles of calculators, geometry sets, spare second-hand blazer and rugby kit etc!
Re: Help needed for forgetful DS!!!!!!
Well, DS has been to the Site Manager's office who told him the two places that the bag would have been placed had he picked it up. Unfortunately, the sports bag is not at either location.
I did think that after searching for it, DS was going to find it but I am starting to think that the bag and kit have been taken home by another student ........
I did think that after searching for it, DS was going to find it but I am starting to think that the bag and kit have been taken home by another student ........
Re: Help needed for forgetful DS!!!!!!
I second the comment about a larger bag for PE. When DS lost his (it actually contained his uniform as he came home in his PE kit) it was in one of those small swimming type bags as I thought it would fit in his locker better, but of course it was easier to overlook when he got off the bus (probably slid under the seat in front). I often wonder what happened to it...
We started off with plastic wallets for each subject, but they don't fit in DS's smaller (trendier) bag that he now carries
We started off with plastic wallets for each subject, but they don't fit in DS's smaller (trendier) bag that he now carries
scary mum
Re: Help needed for forgetful DS!!!!!!
Well I'm so glad it's not just my DCs who have these problems. My two are always (and I mean ALWAYS) the last to appear at the end of school / any organised activity. It's a running joke between my friends and me. They are also completely hopeless about losing things. I've tried labelling everything in indelible ink, writing reminders in planners / on slips of paper in lunch-boxes etc, buying multiple quantities of everything, sending them text reminders and charging them when things go astray. Nothing seems to work.
The absolute worst time was when DS1 was in Y7 and managed to leave school without his blazer (containing annual bus pass), his entire school-bag (containing books, wallet and a phone) and with no shoes on his feet! Not knowing it was not the done thing for mothers to charge into secondary schools looking for lost property, I grabbed DS1 by the hand and scoured the corridors with him. I must have looked so fierce that none of the teachers dared ask me what I was doing. Eventually, we climbed up onto the school stage and I was rummaging around through the scenery behind the curtain, when the Deputy Head appeared.
"Erm......Can I help you?" he said. "Oh yes, thanks" I replied "Can you just climb up onto this table and see if my son has dropped his shoes down the back?" Needless to say, DS1 was mortified. Hasn't stopped him mislaying things though....
I can only hope that intelligence is inversely proportionate to organisation skills at this age. I distinctly remember being just as bad when I was a child, and now I'm Mrs Organised.
The absolute worst time was when DS1 was in Y7 and managed to leave school without his blazer (containing annual bus pass), his entire school-bag (containing books, wallet and a phone) and with no shoes on his feet! Not knowing it was not the done thing for mothers to charge into secondary schools looking for lost property, I grabbed DS1 by the hand and scoured the corridors with him. I must have looked so fierce that none of the teachers dared ask me what I was doing. Eventually, we climbed up onto the school stage and I was rummaging around through the scenery behind the curtain, when the Deputy Head appeared.
"Erm......Can I help you?" he said. "Oh yes, thanks" I replied "Can you just climb up onto this table and see if my son has dropped his shoes down the back?" Needless to say, DS1 was mortified. Hasn't stopped him mislaying things though....
I can only hope that intelligence is inversely proportionate to organisation skills at this age. I distinctly remember being just as bad when I was a child, and now I'm Mrs Organised.
Re: Help needed for forgetful DS!!!!!!
Clearly not mortified enough....Needless to say, DS1 was mortified. Hasn't stopped him mislaying things though....
scary mum
Re: Help needed for forgetful DS!!!!!!
I thought it was just my DH who did that sort of thing. He rang me up a couple of weeks ago to say he was on his way to DS1 school to search for his pe kit and watch. I did say that he wouldn't be able to just potter around , but he replied that he was just going to ask. Anyway he found some lady ( he doesn't know who she was...maybe you, Cairo ! ) who led him around the school to various points looking for his items.Dh says it was great..like his own private tour...DS1 was rather embarrassed. Of course, he came home empty handed.cairo wrote: Not knowing it was not the done thing for mothers to charge into secondary schools looking for lost property, I
I read recently that young teenagers seem a bit dim, lose things, unwilling to help , grunting etc etc because of the tremendous energy needed to go through adolescence . It made me think that at the moment they're a little like an empty shell..shut down to conserve energy.
Re: Help needed for forgetful DS!!!!!!
You are so much nicer than me Scarlett - I tend to think of them as thoughtless lazy so and sos who avoid taking any responsibility for anything if they can help it ("it's not my fault" etc etc)!It made me think that at the moment they're a little like an empty shell..shut down to conserve energy.
Sadly at DCs' school you have to have a card thingy to get in. I therefore have to persuade the DCs to let me in before I can start rampaging around the school .
scary mum
Re: Help needed for forgetful DS!!!!!!
Well at least he asked. I'm rather ashamed to say I just charged in, shoulders back, on a mission. It was only later that I thought that perhaps I shouldn't have done that (or indeed, been able to do that...) No card thingy at DS' school.scarlett wrote: I did say that he wouldn't be able to just potter around , but he replied that he was just going to ask.
Still, I did at least locate his blazer. The shoes turned up the following day, having been tidied away by a "helpful" teacher. The bag took about a week to reappear.
Re: Help needed for forgetful DS!!!!!!
Oh cairo you have really made me laugh! Good for you! I recounted this to my, not so forgetful anymore, son and suggested that if he should relapse and start losing things again, I would be taking action similar to yours.cairo wrote:I grabbed DS1 by the hand and scoured the corridors with him. I must have looked so fierce that none of the teachers dared ask me what I was doing. Eventually, we climbed up onto the school stage and I was rummaging around through the scenery behind the curtain, when the Deputy Head appeared.
"Erm......Can I help you?" he said. "Oh yes, thanks" I replied "Can you just climb up onto this table and see if my son has dropped his shoes down the back?"