Why Am I the Only One That Can Find Anything?

You're not - they just know it's easier to tell you they can't find it :)

My husband has already admitted to me long ago that he tells me he plays dumb with things because then I'll just do it and it's easier :p

Well, since I convinced my daughter that I have eyes in the back of my head a long time ago, it makes since that I should know where everything is?? No, she's really good...helps me as well.

Same here. I am also the only person that knows where the MANY grocery stores are near my home. And that when the milk runs out or no more cheese, you actually do have to buy more. No magic makes it appear on its own. I am apparently also the only one that knows why clothes are not in the laundry basket but appear there AFTER laundry has been done. Sigh.

HAHAHA!! We must live in the same household.

My new thing, if someone asks me where something is and I have no idea, I just stare that them like they have 2 heads... if they ask again, I ask them if they've looked.

True story, I think I've shared it on here before... my husband one evening asked me if there was anything to eat (he's standing in the kitchen, I JUST sat down on the couch, finally)...

ME: Of course there is, did you look?
ROB: No.
ME: You're in the kitchen, give it a shot.
ROB: Is there any tuna made?
ME: Did you look?
ROB: Where would it be?
ME: [sigh] In the fridge.
ROB: [opens fridge] What's it in?
ME: Same as always, clear container, red top, second shelf.
ROB: [takes out tuna] Is this any good?
ME: Yes, I just made it yesterday afternoon.
ROB: Can I make a sandwich with it?
ME: Unless your arms are broken, yes.
ROB: Is there bread?
ME: [veins popping out] Yes...
ROB: Where?
ME: IN THE BREAD BASKET!!
ROB:.... can you make me a sandwich?
ME: NO!! YOU'RE ALREADY IN THERE AND YOU TOOK EVERYTHING OUT! YOU'RE MORE THAN 1/2 DONE!!

Geez.

I love him ;)

Yes, yes you are.

My daughter will actually call me from college to ask where I think she left stuff. Err, honey, I live six hours away, what exactly do you think I can do??

It must be a woman/wife/mom thing. I'm the one that knows where everything is too.
It is crazy.

Oh my gosh, I thought I was the only one. I have some sort of mommy radar that can hone in on things as small as DS games that haven't been seen for years.

A corollary to your question is why am I the only one who can figure out how long to warm something in the microwave (even though we're trying to use it less)?

"Honey - how long would you put this in for?" "Mom - how long do I need to heat this?"

Am I the microwave expert? Do I have some sort of magical super power that lets me assess the density of food and the amount of nuking it needs to be warm but not blistering hot?

:P

I'm the only one that can find anything. My Mom was the only one in our home that could find anything and her mother before her, lol. It's your legacy....

Bottom line is Moms are observant, logical and patient and they ACTUALLY care!

M. :)

I'm sorry, but your post literally made me laugh out loud. I feel the same way!!

At least my kids aren't really old enough to be expected to find things on their own. I am trying to teach them though. I will guide my two year old through looking for things and finding them on her own. Hopefully this will help me out as she gets older.

I will tell my husband step by step how to get something for me, and he still won't be able to find it. "Please go get me a diaper, they are on the second shelf under the clock in the girls' room. I would like the pink one that is on top." Not to mention we have kept things in the same place for the last almost 3 years.
5 minutes of yelling up and down the stairs I just go get it myself. Maybe one day I will learn to just do it myself becuase that is easier, faster, and less stressful on everyone. :)

I think moms are just the best at those kind of things. I remember asking my mom for everything when I was young. :)

GUILTY, maybe it's a guy thing. Whenever the extended family is together and someone can't find something my mom says "I'm sure you looked for it like J. does".

LOL! My standard answer "Its not my job to keep track of your stuff. Keep looking." (Even if I know where it is.) :)

I do like the idea of charging them a quarter tho - especially when they interrupt me in the bathroom or some place like that.

You know what I love?
When it's time to go somewhere I get myself and the kids ready to go.. All the while my husband is checking the time on his phone and watching sports center......
him "hey babe, we're gonna be late, yall almost ready?"
me, loading the car, getting the kids out the door. "ok, i'm ready let's go." him - "babe, have you seen my wallet? Who moved the keys? do you know where my sunglasses are? Can you grab my hat? Have you seen my belt?

aaah this happened this AM with my son's socks!!! Where are my socks?! Hhhhmmm on your floor or in your locker with your bag drag...no - they aren't there....yeah - they were!!!

You aren't alone!! This is why we mama's rock!! We know it all!!! (LOL!!!)

Thank you for giving me a good laugh! Join the club! It spans many generations.

You're the only one who can find anything because you're a genius. Too bad about the rest of the family. :^D

This is a good one to try to keep your sense of humor about, because it really is funny (when it's happening to somebody else). I had a couple of ploys when it came to teaching my children to keep track of their things. One was, "All right, in a minute I'll come find it for you; but then you'll get billed for a quarter, payable immediately." I said it with a smile, but I took the quarter. They didn't want to give me too many of those.

I, on the other hand, was expert at losing my car keys! We'd be ready to go out to the car, and the keys would be missing. No matter where I had put them, they always seemed to go somewhere else - well, you know how *that* happens - and I would pay whichever child could find them for me quickly. And one of them always did.

That kind of "losing" was brain-deadness on my part; I had put the keys down *without actually thinking about what I was doing.* And that's the same thing your children (and husband) are doing.

Be careful if you try the "Pay me" thing, though, because you also want to teach your kids to help family and friends unselfishly. That's why the approach has to be light and humorous, and why the game should (hopefully) be a short one.

the fridge is my favorite. There is only limited space to look in. I don't get it. My ex used to have so much trouble with this. How hard is it to look behin things..lol

I go through this all day... every day. I don't even get a break from it at work. I do more cooking than anyone else that is hired there and they are always asking me where things are ( even for the bar and I only bartend once/ twice a week). I even get phone calls while Im at work if I know where something is and vice versa when Im home!

Its pretty bad when Im not even at the place and can still tell someone where something is at and they are there!!

It's whoever has the adult uterus. LOL
In my house, that would be me, too!
Drives me nutso!

"Mom, I can't find my book!"
"Look for it."
"But I need it NOW."
"So look for it NOW."
"But I need it for homework."
"Then you'd better get cracking."
"Mom if I lose this book, they won't replace it!"
"That sounds serious. You'd better find it."
"But Mooo-ooom! I don't know where it is!"
"That's sort of the point of looking for it."
"I've already looked everywhere."
"How about the last place you saw it?"
"I SAID I looked EVERYWHERE! That covers the last place I saw it!"
"Clearly you didn't look 'everywhere' or you would have found it. Try the table. Try your bed. Try behind your bed. Try under the couch. Try the sun room. Try your backpack. Try the bathroom. Try the top of the TV."
"Um... "
"So where was it?"
"My backpack."
"It's always the last place you look."

LOL, I love it...makes me laugh and shake my head, because I can relate to this all too well!

What is wrong with them? Nothing, it's just easier for you to find things or they do it deliberately so you'll feel "needed."

How to stop this? When they tell you they can't find something say, "That sucks!" and walk away. Don't find it for them. If they pester you say, "I bet you'll find xyz the last place you look."

I usually make my family find things themselves. There are times when I get involved. When my middle lost her DS, I found it in her room (she received it as a Christmas present and promptly lost it 2 weeks later). I didn't give it back to her right away. I wrapped it up and gave it to her for her birthday, which is in March. It was funny. The expression on her face when she opened it was priceless. My brother and his family happened to be there to enjoy cake with us and they were confused, but after I explained, we all had a good laugh. She doesn't lose things anymore.

OMG, you just described my life. I've actually started saying "Wow, honey, I really wish I could help. Unfortunately, it's your stuff, so it's your responsibility to keep track of it." A couple of times, they've had to wear the alternate pair of shoes (the NOT cool ones) or the OTHER pair of pants or have to tell their teacher that they lost their homework on in the mountain of papers on their desk or GO HUNGRY for a few minutes in order to find that leftover pizza in the fridge. It's been *really* hard for me to let go and not micromanage them, but slowly it's coming along. The girls, especially, are getting really, very good at staying on top of their stuff. The husband and the son...not so much. Maybe it's a guy vs girl thing and not really a mom vs everyone else thing.

I just said this same thing to my girlfriends last night on our way to dinner after my husband called me 2 minutes after I got picked up asking me where something was.....

Same here. My husband will open the refrigerator and immediately ask, "where's the ketchup" before even looking. I've gotten to the point of either giving him the "look" or just ignoring him and saying, "did someone say something?" Kids do the same thing. I think the husband and kids believe that us moms are all knowing. Pretty powerful if you think about it, but very annoying. :)

tehehe

I think xray vision comes with pregnancy hormones and never goes away.

:)

You have the mom magic! That amazing finding magic that moms have that children seem to think they don't have. Or is it just your ability to look in more than one direction, tilt you head up and down, lift things with your arm and fingers. Maybe that's it!

My kids walk into a room, do a sweep with their eyes, only at eye level mind you and not up or down - just across the room. If they don't see it, they are convinced it's gone. Drives me bonkers.

I ask myself & everyone else in my house that same question, everyday.

Total opposite in my house. My hubby finds EVERYTHING :).

Here too. If you figure it out let me know! Sometimes I call myself the "Queen of the Stuff." They (husband and kids) tell me, "I knew where it was until you made me clean/put it away."

Preach it sister!
Sounds like my house, too - LOL!

The only time my kids can't find something is when I make them put stuff away. If their shoes are in the closet they can't find them but if they are under the dirty laundry pile they have no problem.

I always tell my husband, "stop looking and just ask me. I know where everything is." Lol.

Stop looking for them and tell them to look under other stuff

Because you are the Mom! All my kids are grown...my husband STILL does. it. It's very entertaining!

UGHHHH your living my life!!! its annoying. my kids r still young but my hubby really? he lived in this house for years before i arrived. why cant he find it or even know where to look.

It's a gift. They just want to make sure you know how much they need you. For the men, it's testosterone. It inhibits them from seeing anything that isn't smacking them in the face. Even then, they sometimes miss it. Embrace your spidey senses.

we have a rule in our household, and actually some of my sil's put this to use too...lol. you have to look for 5 minutes before i tell you exactly where it is w/out even having to look for it. my hubby will ask where his whatever it is and i say i'll start the timer. he gets so annoyed, but i get just as annoyed. it works and he usually finds what he's looking for. w/my dd who is 4, i tell her that it's not my stuff to keep track of and if she would put things back where they belong, she would be able to find it when she was looking for it. she's getting better at it, but still a work in progress..lol. good luck!!

My kids are older (15, 12 and 9) and for the last few years, I have stopped "finding" their stuff for them. If they can't "find" it then they dont get it! Simple! I got to the same point as you and so when I went in and "found" their items I said "look, it was right there and you didn't even make an EFFORT to find it so I'm not going to do it for you anymore". And I didn't and I still don't. Funny how they seem to find everything they need now or its not as important as they thought it was! =)

I am with you! My 4 y/o inherited her lack of searching skills from her father, I'm sure of it. Many times, they ask me where something is, I tell them where I'm pretty sure it is and they come back saying (and slightly upset) that it's not where I said. So, I look for myself and sure enough, I move one item and voila, there it is! Apparently it's too hard to look UNDER things and that everything just happens to be in plain sight... ugh. I sometimes understand this from my 4 y/o since she's 4... but once in a while based on how she acts, it's still quite frustrating. And husband... well, at 31, you'd think he'd know :) ha ha. They're both darlings, but in this case, I have to take your side!

It's EXACTLY the same in my house!

I would have a short family meeting to explain the importance of looking after one's own "stuff". Explain that when there is only one place where an item lives, and you always put it there to store it, it will always be easy to find. (My keys go in my handbag that is always on the kitchen chair, etc.). Inform everyone that they are responsible for finding their own stuff and you no longer have the time to stop what you're doing and look for their stuff.

THEN, the next time someone asks "where's my X", simply say - I have no idea, where did you leave it? and then keep doing whatever you were doing. My husband used to drive me crazy with these goose hunts. I simply don't help him look for things any more and guess what? He's a little more careful with where he leaves stuff now.