I realize as the mother and wife of this household I am now the “thing finder”. My Mom was great at it. If we lost something we went straight to her and she dropped everything she was doing to help us find our thing. She’d help us re trace our steps. Quiz us about where we were last, what pockets we were wearing, if there a jacket involved, if we sat on a couch, etc. etc. If we couldn’t find it she’d keep thinking about it and come home with new places to check and/or recheck in an effort to find it. It always feels better when someone else is helping you look for your thing. Losing stuff is extremely frustrating. Even now as an adult I might lose something and will totally obsess over it, whether I need it or not, until I find it.
As great as my Mom was about finding the things, the one thing I have found is that I don’t like being the “thing finder”. This morning Pat came into the bathroom while I was getting ready and asked me where his phone was.
“I put it in my purse when you left it in the van.” was my answer only to find Pat returning with his hands empty. Nope. Not in there.
“Oh yeah, I stuck it in the bag with the library books, it’s leaning against the wall in the playroom.”
Bingo. I hear the door open and close as Pat leaves with his phone.
And then open and close again as he returns.
Pat: Do you know where the van keys are?
Me: Ummmm…in my purse?
Pat: Nope.
Me: In the bag with the books?
Pat: Nope.
Me: On the counter?
Pat: Nope.
Me: Well you drove the van last where did you put them?
At which point Pat walks away because clearly if he knew the answer to that he would not be bothering me. I look back at the mirror and sigh because I know I have gained the title as the “thing finder” by default because I am the “thing putter awayer.” This is when my Mom would put down her mascara and go help look for the thing with one mascared eye. Reluctantly I go.
I re check the places I told him to check because he normally performs his duties as “checker” half hazardly. No keys.
Me: Did you put it next to the videos in the garage when you were showing them to me after the library last night?
Pat: Huh?
Me: Last night in the garage….
Pat: I probably left them in the van, can I open it with this?
Me: The alarm will go off.
Pat: Really?
Me: Yeah, I tried it before.
Pat walks past me to go look in the van to decide whether or not it’s worth setting our car alarm off at 6:30 in the morning if the keys are in there.
When he comes back I hand him his keys and his wallet.
Pat: Where WERE they!?!?!?!
Me: In the garage.
Pat: Where at?
Me: Next to the videos you were showing me where you put them down after we came home from the library last night.
He thanks me and takes the keys and I shudder as I mosey back to my mascara because I know I have just further confirmed my role as the dreaded “thing finder” and that it will be a label I carry with me for the rest of my life.