Hats and coats and gloves oh my!

 It's fall now the kids have had mommy picking up after them  and are comfortable leaving that stuff on the bus. 
   In the winter we fill a 55 gallon barrel about every 2 or 3 weeks.  I try to leave it on the bus and really try to have the kids check it as they enter and leave.  But after a week or two I toss it in the barrel. 
  The bad thing is the poor kids seem to leave more stuff on the bus then the better off kids. Even expensive coats and hats etc. 

Hopefully they get sent to a homeless center or some place  that can use them and not in the dumpster.

Does the school not have a lost and found?  

Don't parents sharpie their child's name to the tags/inside line of gloves, hats or coats anymore these days? I still do it for my kids. 

If they do often we have no idea who Sally is.  549 kids climb on the bus an average day.  Some stops may have 12-20 kids.   
   It's the bus drivers job to safely drive the bus. Keep the the kids safely seated. Deal with traffic weather and trains. Plus stay on schedule. 
 I go beyond,  in that when checking for sleeping kids after every trip I pick up clothes and display them. So Johnny has had a week walking right past them even though I remind everyone on the bus to check. 
 Is that your kids passive aggressive way of saying he wants to pick out his own cost, hat , Gloves?  

spitfirebill said:

Does the school not have a lost and found?  

Oh yes and theirs is multiples bigger than the bus companies. 
  Between the two $10,000 or more gets tossed away. 

californiamilleghia said:

Hopefully they get sent to a homeless center or some place  that can use them and not in the dumpster.

To be  donated to be reused they are required to be dry cleaned.   Plus mismatched  or a bunch of left handed gloves with no mate have no value. 
  The only salvation is kids take responsibility for their own clothes. Since Mom is too busy to teach her children to pick up after themselves Mom winds up buying new.  

Hands up if your mittens were on strings.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

What are "mittens?"

Edit: I also need some clarification on what you mean by "coat."

frenchyd said:

spitfirebill said:

Does the school not have a lost and found?  

Oh yes and theirs is multiples bigger than the bus companies.  

I wonder how many other parents don't know or realize that the school bus company has a separate lost-and-found from the school... I know that I didn't until just now.

Tom Suddard said:

What are "mittens?"

Edit: I also need some clarification on what you mean by "coat."

They're what we wear when you guys are having hurricanes.

And the poor kids probably catch a beating for coming home without them

Keith Tanner said:

Hands up if your mittens were on strings.

I grew up in the south and remember having a pair of mittens on strings. I was probably 5-8 years old at the time. 

frenchyd said:

californiamilleghia said:

Hopefully they get sent to a homeless center or some place  that can use them and not in the dumpster.

To be  donated to be reused they are required to be dry cleaned.   Plus mismatched  or a bunch of left handed gloves with no mate have no value. 
  The only salvation is kids take responsibility for their own clothes. Since Mom is too busy to teach her children to pick up after themselves Mom winds up buying new.  

Ah, I remember when my kids were young and bitter old people couldn't wait to tell me I was a POS whenever my kids did something kid-like. Now my kids are grown, and I try to show extra kindness to parents with young kids. Many moms today are, literally, almost too busy to teach their kids the basics. Hopefully their kids are at least learning kindness at home while the world punishes them with "more important" lessons.

Margie

Tom Suddard said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

What are "mittens?"

Edit: I also need some clarification on what you mean by "coat."

A coat is like a hoodie that got a promotion

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Totally yes. And I had mittens crocheted by Grandma. 

Keith Tanner said:

Hands up if your mittens were on strings.

Which hand?  If they were on strings you only get to raise one.

In reply to Duke :

The string on mine went up the arm and across my back under my coat. You could take the mittens off, but you couldn't put them down. 

Mine were also crocheted by Grandmom. 

I'm confused by the idea that "mom" is the only one taking care of the kids. Not how it works in my household.

In reply to Stampie :

there's another item for the "what makes Stampie unusual" list

Duke said:

Keith Tanner said:

Hands up if your mittens were on strings.

Which hand?  If they were on strings you only get to raise one.

 

You needed longer strings.

Also, toques should have pompoms. That is all.

This reminds me that I need new mittens. I have far too many pairs of gloves. 

Keith Tanner said:

Also, toques should have pompoms. That is all.

While I acknowledge that the mitten-string argument is important (my mom used clips to attach them to the arms of my jackets), Keith's use of the word "toque" brings us to the real discussion: What did you call those hats with or without the pom-poms on top? They were "sock caps" where I grew up.

Margie

In reply to Marjorie Suddard :

Tossel (I'm sure that isn't spelled right) caps or beanies if they didn't have the pompom.

David S. Wallens said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Totally yes. And I had mittens crocheted by Grandma. 

My Grandma used to crochet socks for the guys at the VA hospital.

She used a super slippery synthetic yarn resulting in so many broken hips that the German army sent her a medal.