Lost and Found

We attend (and my husband is Cantor at) a Lutheran church with a day school (preschool through eighth grade). Over the course of any given year, various items accumulate in the church and school's "Lost and Found" box: shoes, coats, jackets, snowsuits, hats, scarves, gym clothes, etc. Right now there are still many unclaimed pieces of clothing remaining from last school year, so in an effort to identify the rightful owners they have been placed in a central location near the entrance of our church building with a sign stating that if they are not claimed by next week they will be donated to charity.

As I glanced through the accumulated items after choir practice last night, several thoughts came to mind. First, although most of them are sized for children or youth, there are also a few things in adult sizes, so it is not just the kids who are losing or misplacing their belongings. Second, the quality of many of the items is such that I can't believe they have been left unclaimed. Quite a few of them are brand names that due to price we would not even be able to consider purchasing. Moreover, in our house the loss of a coat or jacket would be a huge issue: each child has one light fall jacket and one heavy winter coat, and we try to buy them big enough to last several years. If one were lost, there would be an exhaustive search to find it, which if unsuccessful would likely lead to the owner's relinquishing allowance money until a new coat was paid for.

Our kids know this and as a result do a pretty good of keeping track of their things. I guess one benefit to having only one coat or two pairs of shoes or three pairs of jeans is that when something is missing you notice it right away!