Lost and Found x 2

C has been in camp for 4 days. On Day 2 he came off the bus and I immediately noticed that his Tzitzit were missing. He wears them pretty long, so the sight of his legs without the strings hanging down to his knees was pretty jarring.

"Where are your tzitzit?"

"I don't know. We looked all over the classroom, but Morah couldn't find them."

I was extremely frustrated, because I was pretty sure they were a brand new, still white pair. Later that night, we got a message from a mother of another boy in the bunk. "Hi. This is Mrs. W, Boychik's mom. My son came home wearing your son's tzitzit." I spoke to her later and she said she would put them in a bag with our name on it. We got the tzitzit back the next day as promised.

Today (Day 4), C got off the bus in his rainy-day sweat pants. His poor little face was bright red and he was completely shvitzed.

"Where are your shorts?!"

"I don't know."

This time, I gave him the third degree. "Did you see the shorts in your bag?" "When did you lose them, before 1st swim or after 2nd swim?" "Did Morah help you look?" "Who gave you the pants?" I got nowhere (I later learned that this was due to a sugar induced coma, see here.)

Now, I was pissed. I understand how hard it is to keep track of the various camp parephenalia of 16 5 year old boys. Every day they each bring a towel, 2 swimsuits, a shirt, tzitzit, underwear, shorts, socks, a hat/kippah etc. Tzitzit and kippahs I can understand, especially since they are on and off all day for swim. But SHORTS? C'mon, people.

I actually abused my position as a former "employee" and texted the Camp's Office Coordinator while she was in a meeting. Usually, I am a pretty low key, non-complaining mom. This just seemed like something that needed to be brought to their attention. Soon, before they lose MY KID.

So tonight the phone rings, and Trip'n Daddy (previously known as H) looks at the caller ID and says, "Do we know these people?"

"It's C's shorts."

And behold, it was.

One of the greatest tips I ever got was to label the Trips' clothing with our phone number. I have a stamp from erubberstamps.com for underwear, socks, etc. and this year I ordered the adorable Tag Mates from Mabel's Labels. They both have our last name and phone number.

And they work!!

(BTW- since I was on a roll, I also called the girls' camp today. They have been in camp for 3 days and have gotten off the bus an HOUR after camp was finished each day. It is a big bus, and even though the camp is about 7 minutes away, I understand that it might take some time to get the run done. That was not my issue.

They are not allowed to drink on the bus. Not the frozen juice box or the bottled water I sent. Totally unacceptable. 5 year olds, on a hot bus, for an hour, after a day in the sun, with no water. No wonder they are so cranky when they get home.)