Mising Hoodie, Damn It!

Oooooh. I'm a little pissed off. I am really a pretty laid back mom as far as most things go. I don't really care where you eat as long as you clean up your damn mess. If things get broken, they get broken. They're just things. We used to say, "that's okay, Jack.....accidents happen" and he started saying, "accidents happen somehow!" Somehow indeed. Anyway, I try to not let most things Jack related get to me. PLENTY of other stuff gets to me. And how. See blog. I'm a little "prickly".  There is one thing Jack does that really bugs me and I'm not sure why. Losing things. Last year he managed to lose his ski jacket. HOW? How do you do that? I can see gloves, hats, even lunch boxes. That shit happens. But an entire coat? And awhile back, I noticed I hadn't seen him playing his Nintendo DSI. I asked him where it was and he got all fidgety. To his credit, he's not a liar. He said, "I think I left in the Pilates room that time I had to go with you before school started". Um, that was back in August. This conversation occurred in NOVEMBER. Me: "Jack, why didn't you tell me the minute you realized you may have left it there?" Jack: "Cause you guys would have killed me". Right. We're clearly homicidal. And such yellers! I've yelled at him once. Literally. And I'm not kidding. Clearly, it made quite an impact. Should start yelling more, evidently, so it's not such a shock. Maybe spontaneously. So he doesn't know what to expect. I think that's recommended in most parenting manuals. Keep 'em on their toes! Create an unstable environment! Makes 'em adaptable! Anyway, I ended up calling the rec center, and obviously it wasn't there. This really pissed me off because like the ski coat, it was expensive. It seems like at ten, you should be able to recognize and respect the value of your possessions. Maybe I'm wrong and am applying grown up values to a kid (see "Lost" blog.....I at least have the good sense to freak out when I think I've lost expensive shit) and should be more understanding. I didn't make a huge deal about it but let him know that there would be no replacement. When cleaning prior to Thanksgiving, it turned up in a couch cushion and there was much rejoicing in all of Christie Land. He hasn't really lost much recently, or so I thought. I was going through his closet and noticed that an extremely expensive Polo hoodie (the ones with the gigantic ponies.....I believe this was of the "Olympic Edition" ilk) was nowhere to be found.  Now, lest you think us to be complete maroons, this was purchased by his Uncle Skippy. Uncle Skippy buys him boat loads of Polo every Christmas and birthday. Uncle Skippy does not have children and only has one nephew. Uncle Skippy likes to spoil.  I'm sure the teachers at school must think we are total rollers 'cause Jack has been decked out in Polo since kindergarten. I feel like sending in a disclaimer saying, "We did not buy this stuff. His rich Uncle did".  His teacher last year nicknamed him "Ralph". Anyway, for Christmas this year, Skippy sent a pair of jeans, a button down and this sweet hoodie. Because they were too small, we exchanged them via mail. The new sizes came back with price tags on. The jeans? $150. Shirt was ridiculously expensive and I think the hoodie was at least $95. I about shit my pants. Now, because Skippy is a smart shopper, I'm sure these were all on sale. At least I HOPE they were. But still....expensive apparel for a young chap of ten. Jack saw the price tag on the jeans and said, "WOW! $150 jeans!" to which I said, "Jack, you might want to keep that under you hat lest people think that your parents are freakin' idiots". I'm not convinced he did because I sure do get some funny looks at school. Although that could be due to a variety of factors. So anyway, I'm looking for the hoodie in question. Me: "Jack, where's the Uncle Skippy hoodie?" Jack: "In my closet". Me: "No it's not". Jack: "Then it's at school". Great place for it. Dave goes in and looks in the lost and found (like it's going to last there) and checks in the classroom. Nope. El Losto. This pisses me off. He doesn't lose the cheesy t-shirt that makes me cringe......NOOOOOO. He loses the Ralph. Unbelievably chafing. Hopefully it's under a couch cushion and I can breathe easy again. Shit!