Lost and Not Found

We have bundles of stationeries at home. You name them, we’ve got them – pencils, pens, erasers, rulers, staplers, paper clips. Don’t ask me where they come from. We never buy them, and we don’t steal them either

So we never had to buy stationery items for DD during the three years that she was in kindergarten. It also helped that the kindy had ready supply of stationeries for children who forgot to bring their own.

Primary school is different however. For reasons unfathomable to me, DD keeps losing her eraser – both at sekolah kebangsaan and at KAFA. Sometimes she misplaces her ruler too. And believe me, once they are gone, you’ll never see them again. I’ve resorted to labeling everything, but somehow it doesn’t help a little bit. The pencils? She must have been doing a lot of writing at school because they have to be sharpened almost on daily basis. Same goes to the colour pencils. At the rate things are going, our supply of stationeries would be depleted before the end of the school year.

Stationeries are not the only items that have gone missing. Back in January, she left her meal box at the canteen during recess. I asked her why. She said she was agitated by the sound of the bell. She rushed back to class and forgot about her meal box. We searched for the box after school, but it was nowhere to be seen. Not at the canteen, not at Lost and Found either.

Back in February, she left her PE attire in the washroom. It happened on a Friday. On our way back home from school, I asked her if she had packed her PE attire in her school bag. She said no. A few seconds later she said yes. A few seconds later, she asked me what would happen if she had left it at school. I said we would have to go back to school to collect it. I asked if she was sure that it was in the bag. She said yes. I made a mental note to check her bag once we reach home. But I forgot.

On Sunday, my maid mentioned that she had not seen DD’s PE attire. After much scolding (on my part) and crying (on her part), we went to school to collect it. When I explained to the school guard that DD left her PE attire in the washroom, he gave a knowing nod and said that it was still in there. Sure enough, we found it there.

DD’s friends have the same tendency to misplace their stuff. One morning during the first week of school, I saw the class teacher, Puan Aida, waving a stack of pencils while reprimanding the students, “ Emak ayah awak beli pensel ini untuk awak guna 2, 3 bulan.. bukan 2, 3 hari.”

Her good friend had also left her PE attire at school once.

Yesterday one parent told me that her son lost his shoes. You see, Agama and Arabic lessons are held in the school surau. One morning, he came out of the surau to find his shoes missing. He saw a pair on shoes left, but since it wasn’t his, he didn’t take it. So he went shoeless for an entire school day. Fortunately for him, his mom had written his name inside the shoes, so they found their way back to their rightful owners.

Yesterday also, DD told me her friend lost her balance and fell into the fish pond near the canteen. Fortunately for her, the water is only a few inches deep. But her uniform was drenched. She went to the school office to borrow spare clothing. She came out of the office wearing a long skirt and a nickelodeon t-shirt.

Now don't get me started on the boy who lost control of his bowels...