Mittens With Strings

When I was 5, my mom attached a long string to my mittens, and strung them through the sleeves of my snow coat to prevent my losing them. It was a little uncomfortable, but she had good reason, based on her experience with me losing EVERYTHING.  When i was 9, my grandmother bought me a beautiful Snow White wristwatch, and I lost it. I was mortified, but she kindly bought me another.  I LOST IT TOO.

As I got older, the trend was refined a little.  Losing things is mostly based on FORGETTING them somewhere.  I lost my treasured Staff Jacket when I forgot it in a lecture hall at UCLA.  I knew exactly where I left it, but it just wasn't there anymore when I realized it.  I forgot keys, drivers license, purse, books, you name it.  Now I knew where I left them, but still they weren't with ME.

(I only forgot to pick up my kids once.)

Now that menopause has reared its ugly and demented head, forgetting things has been raised to the level of an art.  Sort of.  The ugly, in-your-face kind of art.  They write funny plays about it, but in one's real life, it's not funny at all.  I forgot my purse twice in one night this past weekend, and therefore ended up driving to and from a friend's house three times in one evening.  Twice to the synagogue in the last 20 hours because I forgot something there.... you get the picture.

So I try to figure out how I can reduce the frequency of forgetting things.  One way is not to carry a purse.  I do that a lot, but then when i need to use one, I'm unaccustomed to it, and forget it everywhere.  I guess I could get those "clapper" keys.  But sometimes I wonder if I could just tie strings to everything I take anywhere, and attach them to my clothes or my fingers.  Paints a really attractive picture, doesn't it???

Sigh.  Aging isn't for the faint of heart.....