How many of you have already had something lost or stolen at school?
While I can't see your hands, I'd be willing to bet that within the first month or so of school, a good number of you would have your hands raised high.
Some of the missing items are little things, but things that other kids want too. So, it isn't a huge surprise when the coveted Smencil or rainbow highlighter disappears from your kid's desk and finds its way to another kid's. Some of the items are just so small that they are hard to keep track of. A pencil, a crayon, the standard pink eraser. You even have the bigger items that just get left behind when kids are having too much fun. It is so much better to swing than keep an eye on that lunchbox. When kids are playing soccer, they get hot and toss the hat/sweatshirt/gloves they are wearing off into a pile to be picked up later. Once an item gets separated from its child, the likelihood of ever finding its way back, is pretty low.
Unless . . .
You have labeled each and every one of your kid's items!
Which is what I now do. Each and every pencil (34 of them, in fact) has a cute little sticker with our name on it. All 12 glue sticks, 48+24+24+24 crayons, lunchboxes, hats, gloves, sweatshirts, etc. are now labeled so that it is easy for anyone to match up a rogue item with one of my daughters.
I used to write their names on everything. I must say that it was a HUGE pain. By the time I was done, I had writer's cramp and all the letters were starting to run together. Now, I use Mabel's Labels. They come in lots of sizes, patterns, and shapes. They even have tiny labels that fit a pencil just perfectly. Do you want to know my FAVORITE thing about Mabel's Labels? I don't have to label anything anymore!!! My kids can label their stuff all by themselves. At 6 & 8, they have lots of experience with stickers. They are more than capable of peeling and sticking the labels on all of their stuff. Maybe they will be a little crooked or have the tiniest fold in some of them, but this (sometimes lazy) mom doesn't care! Less work for me and less time and money spent on replacing lost items are both good things!
*Disclaimer: I was sent a pack of labels for each of my girls from Mabel's Labels and Global Influence for sharing this information with you. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Peanut got the tween labels (See the Alexandria image below) and Pumpkin got the standard labels (See the Jacob image). We also had some previously purchased standard labels with our last name on them so that either one can use them . . . because I'm thrifty like that.
FYI - Yes, I do realize that it is not Friday. However, my plan was to have this post up last Friday (or maybe the Friday before that). Unfortunately, my plans and my "do"s are often not one in the same. So, Friday or not, Mabel's Labels are still a Fabulous Find!
