Is there anything more frustrating
than losing your keys?
I religiously place my keys in the same spot when I walk in the door. I can’t remember the last time I lost them.
I took great pride in my flawless record.
That is until the day the unimaginable happened…I misplaced them.
My kids found this amusing coming from the person that writes about home organization. I was teased relentlessly as we all searched the house, and the kids were more than thrilled about the opportunity to sarcastically recite my own lecture about keeping up with items.
Had they fallen on the garage floor? Did the dog run off with them? Are the kids playing a trick on me? They were hopelessly lost, but I was relieved I had a spare set.
TIP: Always keep a spare set of keys in case of an emergency.
Bye Bye Guitar Hero II keychain. 
I finally came to the conclusion that I threw them away by accident. I frequently pull that mom move…you know the one where you try to get all the stuff out of the car and into the house in one trip because of an irrational refusal to make a second trip.
I tend to have one arm overflowing with my preschooler’s papers, lunchbox, book bag, my purse, a shopping bag, mail, and my keys in one hand while gathering up trash with the other. It resembles a cheap balancing act from a circus.
I figured, amidst the chaos of getting everyone inside, my keys ended up in the wrong hand and were tossed in the garbage. The trash was well on its way to the dump before I realized this possibility.
Find a spot to keep your keys and make it a habit.
Not only does it save you the time spent hunting, you are stuck at home without them.
Yay! I found them!
I’m thrilled to report that I found my keys a few days ago, and my favorite keychain is back in service. After being missing for over a month, the keys finally reappeared. Turns out they were in my purse’s side pocket (which I never use), so I guess they slid in undetected.
I can’t believe I had the keys with me all along.
What item do you misplace the most?
I’m pretty good with the keys – there’s always several spots where they could be. On trips, one spot and one spot only.
Glad to hear you eventually found them!
ashok recently posted..Emily Dickinson, “It is an honorable Thought” (946)
Thanks for stopping by! I couldn’t believe I had been carting those keys around and thankfully they never fell out.
Oh well I know this problem!
We placed a second set of keys in the neigbourhood because of misplacing our key a few months ago.
Marko recently posted..Tretauto Geschichte – Historie und Entwicklung eines beliebten Kinderspielzeuges
I have a neighbor keep a spare set which came in handy one day to rescue my son from being locked out. Always a good idea.
Haha–I think we can all relate, Melinda! At least your story had a happy ending. The last time I lost my keys, I found them in my sister’s toilet. Hmmm…maybe I’ll blog about that one later.
HA HA that would make a great post. Who was the lucky one to fish them out?
A few years later you will have a GPS receiver at your keys and when you are sending a SMS to it, it will answer longitude and latitude and Google Maps says where your keys are.
(not very serious, but why not..?) 
Marko recently posted..Tretauto Geschichte – Historie und Entwicklung eines beliebten Kinderspielzeuges
I bet you are right..seriously. And I bet it shows the coordinates of my couch which eats everything.
That is funny Melinda… I would be just like a kid too and tease the heck outta not once but where you found them too. Did you tell the kids where they were all along?
Lee recently posted..Whats the Dry Season of Your Life and how does it affect you
Yes they heard me when I screamed! I was so excited to have my Guitar Hero II keychain back. Sad..I know. It’s the little things that make me happy. LOL
Hi Melinda,
Just wanna stop by to drop my comment. I noticed you made some changes in your site. Well next time better keep your keys where you find it lol..
Keep up the good work.
Valentine Belonwu recently posted..Let Go
Thanks Valentine! I am always messing around changing stuff. It’s my restless nature.
I’m so paranoid about losing my keys and locking them inside my car!
My key remote saves me from that problem thank goodness. I’m in the habit of locking from the outside so that won’t happen.
Not only keys, but stuff that you place where you can always find it again, have a funny way of misplacing themselves in the weirdest places – like in that side pocket you never use
I’m glad you found them again, even if it took a whole month!
Klaus recently posted..Sony Products for Review- Camera HX5V- Headphones MDR-750 -amp iPhone Docking Station DS11iP
I think that is the most frustrating part. Then there are just plain crazy ones like yesterday I was looking for the phone while I was talking on it.
I think that is just sleep deprivation.
How annoying that must be? I’ve never lost my keys, but other similar small items disappear….thanks to my kids. The thing is, nobody every moves them (or so they say) until they reappear.
Wayne Farley recently posted..Flying Cars Set to Takeoff in 2011
HA HA Tape is always disappearing in my house. The culprits are always my girls who have a crazy obsession with tape. They think it is the answer to fixing everything including ripped Barbie dresses.
I’m pretty good with my keys…I’ve had the same keychain for 32 years now. My parents gave me a Rolls Royce keychain for my 16th birthday as a huge joke.
But sunglasses…I can never find those! I’ve even bought 3 pairs at the same time thinking at least I would always be able to find one pair. Didn’t work at all!
And don’t get me started on tape either….I actually have a hidden stash of tape that the kids don’t know about. I’ve had to wrap too many presents with masking tape (don’t know why we always have that around)!
Claire recently posted..Last Minute Mother’s Day Gifts – 2010
I found if I bought cheap sunglasses and watches, I never lose or break them. If I buy nice ones, they last a short time.
I have wrapped my share of presents with large packing tape due to a regular tape shortage.
That’s funny. I have a tendency to lose expensive sunglasses as well. I currently have a cheap pair that I’ve had for 3 years and lost 2 expensive pairs in the last 6 months. Anyway, I’m new to your blog and it’s pretty cool.
rodney recently posted..Six Tips for Choosing a Builder to Build Your New Home
Thanks!
Glad I’m not the only one.
Recently my car was in the shop and the loaner car received was a Nissan Sentry. Now, those cars only have one key – and it opens the drivers door. There are no other locks – not on the other doors, or the trunk – as all has to be opened by a button on the driver door. I misplaced that one key and looked everywhere for it. It was on a 1″ leather strap about 1ft long and I thought it might have slipped out of my pocket and caught onto something and was yanked out of the car or something. I didn’t go far that day, so I walked back to where I met a client (tim hortons) and looked around.. and couldn’t find it. I went inside for a cup of coffee, and then .. D’oh! The key was around my neck – and under my shirt. // didn’t feel a thing!
YEah. I felt stupid, but had a good walk and Tim Hortons soup and sandwich deal while I was there.
HART (aka PetLvr) recently posted..Looking For Advice On Pet Grooming
Oh boy, HART, that made me laugh! That story is great! Yep can’t complain about getting a walk in and a good lunch.
I’ve misplaced mine a few times. But like you said putting a spare one somewhere handy has always helped me out. I’m not keen on looking for things. I give up easily. I just love putting them in specific places so even in the dark I can still get them when needed.
Chadrack recently posted..Internet Marketers and Mailing List- You can truly learn a Lot!
Good plan. There is just nothing more frustrating than losing your keys..and iwhy does it seem to happen when you are in a hurry?
Hi Melinda,
“Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most!”
Mark Twain nailed it. I no longer worry about losing things, but it frustrates me to no end to lose my train of thought or to forget why I walked into a room.
Even worse is, during the creative process, my brain goes faster than I can type. If I have three ideas, by the time I type down the first two, I’ve forgotten the third! My head is messed up for the rest of the day, when that happens.
Cheers,
Mitch
Mitchell Allen recently posted..Caught In the Web
LOL great quote! That happens to me, too. I get a brilliant idea I am sure I will remember and it leaves almost immediately. I deny that has anything to do with age.
That’s great that you found your keys!
I had something like that happen recently, in my case it was a library book. I’m still looking for it. I have no clue where I set it down. I know it happened while I went on a remove items from my house frenzy.
I can relate to library books. I had to stop going to the library for awhile because there was always at least one missing book. I would find them in the older kids’ rooms months later in strange out of the way places. That could be my fault for checking out about 15-20 books at a time (mostly books for me to read to my little one).
What I don’t understand if why someone doesn’t invent a simple kit to make things findable, perhaps through a remote that creates a small alarm sound on the item so we can follow the sound. This would be ideal for the things people lose the most – keys, glasses, TV remote, camera. Don’t need one for the mobile phone – you can just dial the number (if it isn’t turned off).