Have you ever hidden your jewelry for safekeeping… and then later been unable to find it? If so, you can relate to Polly in this one. Sometimes we are simply too good at hiding things!
Have you ever lost track of an item you “hid” for safekeeping?
I can’t say this has happened to me. When it comes to putting things in their ‘homes,’ I am very consistent. However, I recently ‘lost’ a pair of gloves and it was making me crazy. The reason it was making me nuts was there were only two places they could have been- in the glove drawer or in a pocket of one of my coats. I checked both and they were not there.
Then I thought maybe when I donated some coats recently, I forgot to check the pockets and the gloves were in there. So I gave up and decided they were gone.
Surprisingly, they ended up being in the pocket of a zipper jacket, which isn’t stored in my coat closet. I was so happy to find my green velvet gloves. And it was so an odd place to find them because I rarely put anything in the zipper jacket.
Green velvet gloves would be a sad thing to lose! I’m so glad they turned up. I’ve had that happen sometimes. I rarely lose things either, but every now and then, something isn’t where it is supposed to be… and it drives me nuts!
Meanwhile, I’ve been praying for a friend to find her “lost” necklace that she hid somewhere in her house. And I had a client whose father (whose house we were clearing out) regularly hid valuables in “unlikely” places. We had to check every teacup. AND, we did find some things!
I have seen this happen many times with clients, and when we would go through the room, they would always be surprised where they found the times.
My husband told me a story about his grandmother hiding cash around the house for safekeeping. Then when she passed, everyone had to search for money around the house. I get it; hiding items is vital if you have people coming in and out of your home. But, it is also important to tell someone where you placed the items so they know if something happens. Sabrina Quairoli recently posted…Tips for Organizing Every Closet in Your Home
I had a client with a similar situation. We had to look in every pot, teacup, drawer, pocket, etc. We did find things, so it was worth it. But there was no way that the person even knew where all that stuff was.
When we moved here 18 years ago, we realized we didn’t have the door knocker with my husband’s family crest on it. We had taken it off the door early specifically so we wouldn’t forget it too! We accepted that it was gone and moved on long ago. Then a few months ago I got out my old doll chest to play with my granddaughter and discovered that’s where I’d stashed the door knocker! Janet Barclay recently posted…Building your own website? Save time and stress by reading this first.
Totally! Four times, I put my wedding ring somewhere “safe” while I got to the end of pregnancy and my fingers swelled a bit. I lost it all four times. Even though it was in the same safe place all four times! In my engagement ring box, with my engagement ring. Doh! Tamara recently posted…Unicorn Toast to Elevate Your Toast at Home!
Oh, I hear this all the time. On the one hand, I have a very sharp visual memory for where I put things (kind of like a little movie playing in my head) and I’m also very systematic, rarely ever putting things down “just for a minute.” So, I’ve experienced this with clients, but usually find that if I’m SURE something is where I’ve put it (not to hide it, but to keep it safe), it’s actually still there, but hiding from me!
I have a drawer where I put my passport. It’s the only place I put my passport if I’m not traveling. But once, it wasn’t EXACTLY where it should have been in the drawer because something else had fallen on top of it, and I might as well have been clutter-blind because it wasn’t exactly as I expected it to be.
I don’t have this happen often either, but I have seen it multiple times with clients. I did have it happen with my jewelry box once, and I got a little panicky, but then I remembered where I had put it. What a relief!
I hid a $50. bill once before I went away on vacation. I could not remember for the life of me where I had hid it. I did find it eventually but we can waste so much time looking for things. Ugh!!
This used to happen to me when I would buy gifts and put them away and forget I had purchased something. Now I make a note in a monthly file to remind myself where the gift is, where the next pair of running shoes is when mine are done, items I need to take when I visit certain people.
That’s a good tip. This has happened to me often with gifts. One year I looked EVERYWHERE, and then later realized I had packed it up with gifts to send to a relative by mistake. Fortunately, she discovered the error and let me know.
I put several pieces of jewelry in a “safe” place before we moved to a different house – I didn’t want to risk losing it in the packing/moving process. For MONTHS after we moved I couldn’t find it. I was so ticked at myself, turned everything upside-down more than once, and finally admitted to myself that somehow it was forever lost (or worse, stolen).
And then I remembered…we have a safe deposit box. Doh! (insert face-palm emoji here). Sure enough I was so “smart” I’d taken it to the bank, and there it was, safe and sound. Sara Skillen recently posted…Positive Outlooks, Positive Spaces
My BIL is the king of hiding things for safekeeping. He does it all the time – different hiding spots and different things and then he forgets. It drives my sister crazy. Sometimes they spend hours looking for something. Janet Schiesl recently posted…An Organizing Lesson From the Pulpit
Someone in my family does this all the time as well. It can be exasperating when you can’t find your things, right? Especially when you hid them for safekeeping!
I am constantly doing this. Every time we travel I put some things away where no one would find them and then “the no one” turns out to be me! You’d think by now I would have learned! I thought of making a list of where I hid things but then I think I’d want to hide the list as well. I usually do find them but I spend some near panicky moments until I do.
Yes, that is exactly it, Dianne! The “no one” turns out to be us. It is panicky to lose these things in particular because they are usually items of high value, hence why we hid them in the first place!
I can’t say this has happened to me. When it comes to putting things in their ‘homes,’ I am very consistent. However, I recently ‘lost’ a pair of gloves and it was making me crazy. The reason it was making me nuts was there were only two places they could have been- in the glove drawer or in a pocket of one of my coats. I checked both and they were not there.
Then I thought maybe when I donated some coats recently, I forgot to check the pockets and the gloves were in there. So I gave up and decided they were gone.
Surprisingly, they ended up being in the pocket of a zipper jacket, which isn’t stored in my coat closet. I was so happy to find my green velvet gloves. And it was so an odd place to find them because I rarely put anything in the zipper jacket.
Green velvet gloves would be a sad thing to lose! I’m so glad they turned up. I’ve had that happen sometimes. I rarely lose things either, but every now and then, something isn’t where it is supposed to be… and it drives me nuts!
Meanwhile, I’ve been praying for a friend to find her “lost” necklace that she hid somewhere in her house. And I had a client whose father (whose house we were clearing out) regularly hid valuables in “unlikely” places. We had to check every teacup. AND, we did find some things!
I have seen this happen many times with clients, and when we would go through the room, they would always be surprised where they found the times.
My husband told me a story about his grandmother hiding cash around the house for safekeeping. Then when she passed, everyone had to search for money around the house. I get it; hiding items is vital if you have people coming in and out of your home. But, it is also important to tell someone where you placed the items so they know if something happens.
Sabrina Quairoli recently posted…Tips for Organizing Every Closet in Your Home
I had a client with a similar situation. We had to look in every pot, teacup, drawer, pocket, etc. We did find things, so it was worth it. But there was no way that the person even knew where all that stuff was.
When we moved here 18 years ago, we realized we didn’t have the door knocker with my husband’s family crest on it. We had taken it off the door early specifically so we wouldn’t forget it too! We accepted that it was gone and moved on long ago. Then a few months ago I got out my old doll chest to play with my granddaughter and discovered that’s where I’d stashed the door knocker!
Janet Barclay recently posted…Building your own website? Save time and stress by reading this first.
That is a great story! You could write a post about that one. 🙂 I’m so glad you found it.
Totally! Four times, I put my wedding ring somewhere “safe” while I got to the end of pregnancy and my fingers swelled a bit. I lost it all four times. Even though it was in the same safe place all four times! In my engagement ring box, with my engagement ring. Doh!
Tamara recently posted…Unicorn Toast to Elevate Your Toast at Home!
Well, in all fairness, pregnancy brain does set in. I’m just happy you found it each time. It does feel nice to get your fingers back, right?
Oh, I hear this all the time. On the one hand, I have a very sharp visual memory for where I put things (kind of like a little movie playing in my head) and I’m also very systematic, rarely ever putting things down “just for a minute.” So, I’ve experienced this with clients, but usually find that if I’m SURE something is where I’ve put it (not to hide it, but to keep it safe), it’s actually still there, but hiding from me!
I have a drawer where I put my passport. It’s the only place I put my passport if I’m not traveling. But once, it wasn’t EXACTLY where it should have been in the drawer because something else had fallen on top of it, and I might as well have been clutter-blind because it wasn’t exactly as I expected it to be.
This also reminds me of Hazel Thornton’s post about the pink binder! https://www.org4life.com/if-you-cant-find-something-clean-up/
Julie Bestry recently posted…Organize Your Thoughts & Your Desk with Desktop Whiteboards
I don’t have this happen often either, but I have seen it multiple times with clients. I did have it happen with my jewelry box once, and I got a little panicky, but then I remembered where I had put it. What a relief!
I hid a $50. bill once before I went away on vacation. I could not remember for the life of me where I had hid it. I did find it eventually but we can waste so much time looking for things. Ugh!!
Yes, cash is another common one to hide for sure. Glad you eventually found it!
This used to happen to me when I would buy gifts and put them away and forget I had purchased something. Now I make a note in a monthly file to remind myself where the gift is, where the next pair of running shoes is when mine are done, items I need to take when I visit certain people.
That’s a good tip. This has happened to me often with gifts. One year I looked EVERYWHERE, and then later realized I had packed it up with gifts to send to a relative by mistake. Fortunately, she discovered the error and let me know.
I put several pieces of jewelry in a “safe” place before we moved to a different house – I didn’t want to risk losing it in the packing/moving process. For MONTHS after we moved I couldn’t find it. I was so ticked at myself, turned everything upside-down more than once, and finally admitted to myself that somehow it was forever lost (or worse, stolen).
And then I remembered…we have a safe deposit box. Doh! (insert face-palm emoji here). Sure enough I was so “smart” I’d taken it to the bank, and there it was, safe and sound.
Sara Skillen recently posted…Positive Outlooks, Positive Spaces
I’m so glad you found it! This kind of thing happens. Our good intentions, and then we forget. Seems we find some pretty great “safe” places, though!
My BIL is the king of hiding things for safekeeping. He does it all the time – different hiding spots and different things and then he forgets. It drives my sister crazy. Sometimes they spend hours looking for something.
Janet Schiesl recently posted…An Organizing Lesson From the Pulpit
Someone in my family does this all the time as well. It can be exasperating when you can’t find your things, right? Especially when you hid them for safekeeping!
Omg this happens to me all the time–even if I hide cash for a rainy day–it may be months before I ca find it!
Nice to know what we do is “normal,” right?
I am constantly doing this. Every time we travel I put some things away where no one would find them and then “the no one” turns out to be me! You’d think by now I would have learned! I thought of making a list of where I hid things but then I think I’d want to hide the list as well. I usually do find them but I spend some near panicky moments until I do.
Yes, that is exactly it, Dianne! The “no one” turns out to be us. It is panicky to lose these things in particular because they are usually items of high value, hence why we hid them in the first place!