If you are already the parent of a school-aged child you have already discovered the huge frustration all parents go through when it comes to their belongings. In the winter it is hats, mittens, and scarfs going missing, but all year round we all have the battle of making sure they come home with all their lunch box components. Snack containers, water bottles, thermos, spoons, and so on. Somewhere there must be a black hole that sucks these things in! What is worse though is when only a part of something goes missing. You have the lunch container but not the lid, or you now need water bottle replacement parts as the cap is missing! Only a parent knows the pain of this process, but here are a few points of advice that might lift the frustration!
Label everything – really, everything!
First of all when school suggests you label their belongings, really take that to heart. Everything from clothing, school supplies, shoes, coat, bags and then all those lunch containers, their lids and so on. Label the containers and label their lids, including on their water bottle and thermos. That way should the lid of the thermos get lost, it has a chance of making its way back to you. In the meantime, rather than having to pay out for a whole new thermos you can find thermos replacement parts, Australia or where you are. You can use labels bought, there are iron-on types and you should keep some spares for when you buy them something new.
For younger kids consider colour coding
When your children are a bit younger colour coding is a great way to help get them to learn to be more organised and responsible for their belongings. You could use one colour on their outside play items, one colour on their lunchbox things and so on. Then if they see something is lost and found and it has a coloured label on it matching something they are missing, they know it is theirs. Also get them started young on good habits like putting their homework straight into their bag after they have finished it, helping get their lunch made and ready the night before, putting their mittens and such away in the right place as soon as they are home.
Get replacement parts rather than paying for the whole thing!
What is great news is that some places have realised some parents do not want to keep buying whole containers, bottles and such when just part of them is lost. You can now find water bottle replacement parts or thermos replacement parts Australia so that when you are missing the rubber seal from a thermos, or to the water bottle, for example, that is all you need to buy now. You can replace the missing parts saving you a lot of money throughout the year. For older children who should be more responsible about their things, this is an opportunity to have them use their own money at some point, to teach them to take more care.