Not Prepared

There are many things that people told me when I was expecting my first child.  How I wouldn't get much sleep the first few months, how many diapers I'd need per day, how to get on a feeding schedule.  Then they told me more things on what to expect as each additional child came along.  But through all the advice and suggestions, no one ever told me or prepared me for one of the most annoying things......

how craft and office supplies vanish!

I wish that instead of baby wipes or onesies, I was given scissors, tape and pens.  My junk drawer is always severely lacking these things, and mostly when I need them!  It never fails that I'll need to write a check or mail a package and I'll look to the junk drawer for a pen or packing tape and not find any!  It's inevitable that these items have been lost in the vortex of childhood inspiration and imagination, never to seen again.  I am convinced!

True to motherhood, I've had to get creative in securing my resources (ie. hoarding and hiding).  I buy a 3-pack of scotch tape and put one in the drawer, one in a cabinet up above (for me to use, secretly) and the other in a closet (up, out of sight and reach).  I have also purchased a cheap pack of pens and declared that NO ONE IS TO REMOVE THEM FROM THE ROOM!  The pen(s) are to be used and immediately returned to the drawer from which they came.  And under no circumstances am I to EVER find them in someone's room!  But it has not worked.  No one listens to me. *sigh*  And so I bought a new pack of pens yesterday.

And don't get me started on printer paper and glue sticks.

I was totally unprepared for this part of motherhood.  Why did no one tell me that office supplies would be a hot commodity and hoarded and hidden like candy?  I had no idea I would one day find myself secretly snickering and congratulation myself on a well-hidden, good pen.