Keeping Track of the Instruments

Seriously, who knew? that keeping track of your kids' instruments could be a full time job?? Is it only my kids?

On Tuesday the girls came home and I asked them to put away their instruments. Catherine immediately came to me and said she was pretty sure hers was still in the orchestra room at school. Julianne said nothing to me and since I didn't see her instrument lying around the house somewhere assumed it was put away.

Today, Wednesday is another day that Julianne has to take her flute to school. I reminded her (like the good mom I am) to get her flute. She looked in all the usual places and then announced that she thinks she left her flute in her locker so that she didn't have to bring it back the next day (something she has done before). I casually mention to her that I thought I saw her at home with her flute yesterday and she assures me (in her special way) that I am crazy and that her flute is happily sitting in her locker at school.

At 10:30, she calls from school to inform me that her flute is not in her locker so she is "certain" she left it on the bus.

I am not so certain, so I search the house. I did not find it. At 11:45, I headed out the door with Adam and Owen to find the instruments.

First I went to Catherine's school just to make sure her violin was there. It was. I grabbed it and told Catherine I had it.

Then I went to the bus barn lost and found (which is in the parking lot of the high school). The flute was not in the lost and found and they suggested I search the bus itself since it was just from the day before. As I got to the bus the fire alarm at the high school started going off. They were having an unplanned fire drill. All the students started pouring out. I searched the bus (despite the crowd) and did not find the flute. I got in my car eager to head to the middle school to look for her flute there, only to realize that during an "unplanned" fire drill the premises are secured and no one can come or go until the facility is all checked out by the fire department.

It was fun for Adam to watch all the fire trucks roll in. For me??? Not so fun. Finally, an hour and a half after arriving we were able to leave. I headed to the middle school. I searched high and low. You name it . . . I looked there. With just a few minutes left in Julianne's class I pulled her out to help me retrace all her steps.

Finally, I came to the realization that it was not there. Perhaps someone accidentally took her flute home (since we found LOTS of other people's flutes). I drove home.

At home, I started thinking -- I am still pretty sure I saw her with her flute and when I asked her to put it away she did not tell me that she didn't have it (like she usually does). So I started thinking like Julianne . . . ("where can I hide my flute so that mom will think I actually put it away?"

I found it. Hiding underneath the back cushion of the overstuffed chair in the living room.

I was a MAD MOM. She has now "lost" her ipod touch for a while. I told her I just can't remember where I put it???