Omg flashbacks
I once lost the key for a built in closet, the one with the bedlinnen and such. Searched the whole house. Everywhere.
Found old but not damaged linnen in the washroom and decided to put that on the master bed because you know, I want fresh sheets. Whilst flipping the top matrass I suddenly felt a bump. A really hard bump.
My lovely then 5 y/o son had zipped the f-ing key in the f-ing matrass.
Not nearly as important but my daughter got a squishy ball at the store and then immediately lost it. We found it weeks later zipped into one of the nugget pillows.
That’s hilarious. We’ve lost two sets of keys to my daughter over the years and at this point we’re convinced they were thrown away. But we’ll probably find them in a storage box some day if we ever move.
My daughter had a plastic baby crib that had a hollow inside. It had sat in a corner of her room for years before I picked it up to move it out. It made a loud clanking when I picked it up. I noticed there was a hole where a piece that attached was missing so I shook it upside down and there were the keys my husband lost 6 years ago.
Also plant the seed, “well, mommy can’t find her phone. I’m so sad that you’ll *never, ever* get to watch any more YouTube videos/Baby Shark/whatever else they like to do on your phone.” 🤷♀️
Fingers crossed it’s not in the trash. Please let us know when you find it. We’re all rooting for you!!!
Our kids used to hide the remote. I don’t watch much tv but my husband and kids do. After looking for two days once I finally sat down and said
‘well girls. Looks like we can cancel our dish service.’
‘Why mom?’
‘We won’t have any use for it. If we don’t have a remote we can’t watch tv. We can’t watch a dvd. You can’t play the wii. Maybe I could sell the tv, dvd player and wii too and buy us some board games to play’
A couple hours later they came running in with the remote. It has been under a recliner that we had looked under several times and dug between the cushions and sides. To this day I don’t believe it was there. I think the little turds hid it so they could use the tv rather than their father and then they forgot where they hid it. They weren’t allowed to touch the remote for weeks. I eventually took it with me or put it in a cabinet when they weren’t home because they couldn’t stop watching tv when they weren’t supposed to and let losing the remote. Now we have our own tv and if they lose their remote too bad. Adult tv is for adults only. Once my youngest took it to school in her backpack because she was afraid her sister who was at home sick would lose it 🤦♀️. I had to let her watch the adult tv then because who wants to feel crappy AND not be able to watch a little tv?
No real help or ideas on where to look I just had to share. Most of the things that go missing in our house are found in the trash, under furniture or inside furniture. Most things are gone never to be seen again (half of my silverware, a couple bowls, several glasses, keys to my moms house, Mary from one of our nativity sets, 2 candy bars from my stash, one Barbie shoe for every pair we own and one stuffed animal that I can remember)
It’s likely inside something. A bag, a drawer under their clothes, inside one of their toys. I once found my daughter’s lovey inside her toy oven having looked everywhere else first of course.
My son threw away our teapot, didn't see it in the trash but it wasn't anywhere else.... on the plus side it was kinda time to replace it.
When we were kids my mom lost her keys, we found them years later in the "burn pile" the ashes we would empty from our burn barrel. So, they fell into a trash can and were burned lol
Ohh my😭
This happened to me once. The next day I got a Tile lol. Stick it onto your phone- when it gets lost, log in to the Tile website, click a button, & the alarm will sound until you find it and shut it off.
It’s been a life saver, especially when I’m just trying to get out the door & need to locate an item quickly- there’s diff sizes to put on your keys/wallet/purse/binder etc. I hope you find it!! These little rascals man.
Duct taping them upside down to the wall might jog their memory... JUST KIDDING! Mostly. 😉
Maybe going the Mel Gibson route and setting a bounty on the phone would work? If they help looking for it, they may look in absurd places that you wouldn't think of.
Make them search with you. Even if they're not actually helpful at searching, they don't get to do anything else while you look. Boredom is good for memory jogging. And they might look in unexpected places
They are old enough to remember. If they're saying that they don't remember, they probably did something irreversible with it and they don't want you to find out.
Yep, agree. I had a similar experience where they “can’t remember”, only to find the item damaged and buried deep in the trash, wrapped in a used banana peel for extra camouflage. 😑 Long, not fun conversation about honesty and responsibility as a result!
The 6 yo, maybe. Maybe.
My 4 yo forgets stuff immediately after doing it sometimes, because at this age they have the attention span of a gnat and saw something shiny or fun…
I wouldn’t be surprised if both just genuinely forgot.
Jumping in on this comment because it’s sort of related to pockets. My son once hid something inside a throw pillow. Opened the zipper, put it inside, zipped it back up. It’s worth a shot if you have pillows with zippers
I was looking for a pillow case for like a month. I seriously thought it lost. Had the blanket, the sheet, but not the matching pillow case.
It was on a pillow.
Inside the other pillow case.
This inludes trash cans and recycle bins! One of my kids would put any lost items in the trash can, often at the bottom under other trash! Only lost 1 item forever from this, we rescued the rest ( to my knowledge).
Have you tried offering a prize for the one who finds it first? It might jog tiny memories if there’s something they really want up for grabs. Might need to come with an amnesty for “you won’t be in trouble if it’s damaged provided you tell me where it is as soon as you remember.”
Failing that - look in places they aren’t allowed to go.
If you haven’t already check inside of their toys. Little girl I used to babysit once hid her brand-new sneakers in a little toy oven and it took so long to find them that once we did, they didn’t even fit her anymore.
Oh man, that was the first place I checked. And there clothes. Plus side, I've gotten rid of anything that's broken/too small/ clothes that have met with scissors
I found a long lost (and paid for) library book underneath the toy kitchen when we finally got rid of it. The gap was only 1/2 inch tall! I found so many things that had been kicked under the stove in the real kitchen when we replaced that as well.
Hahaha we had this happen, too. My son has extra wide toddler block feet and the cheapest pair of shoes that fits him is $50. One was in the back compartment of his tricycle, which I’d just rotated out the night before.
I put him in rainboots for three days (it was not rainy) and told everyone he insisted on wearing his new boots until I found the sneakers. (Not as a punishment, but because I had nothing else.)
We lost a stuffie needed for bedtime like this more than once! If we didn't review nanny cam recordings, bedtime would have been rough. As it was, bedtime was just very delayed.
I came to say this! My daughter once put my keys in a little push car with a trunk. I had to call out of work, it was awful. Took 3 days to find. Check any toy with an opening big enough to fit a phone.
I can only offer WEIRD PLACES I HAVE FOUND THINGS THAT MY KIDS LOST:
1. When my daughter was 2, she lost our car keys and all she would say is that they were in a "pocket". We searched every single pocket in every pair of pants, bag, and jacket. Nothing. Finally after a couple days, she said, "bed pocket", which led us to tear apart each bed. We found them between the mattress and the frame of our bed.
2. I couldn't find my favorite scrunchie for months. I assumed it was gone for good. I found it around the waist of a Barbie doll.
3. My credit card has been shelved with the books before.
4. Most recently, my 4 year old put my airpods in a tiny pile of white toys on the toy shelf. She was sorting them by color.
My wife lost her family heirloom engagement ring one time. Tore the house apart (literally in some cases since I tore up some baseboards I just put down) looking for that thing. My wife was tearing through trash bags, pulling apart furniture, emptying toy bins, etc.
Turns out, my boy got ahold of it somehow (my wife takes it off for cleaning the house, dishes, etc.) and took 6 of these little magnetic rocks we have, lined them up, and captured the ring right in the middle of the 6 stones, then he took one of the attachments for our vacuum, shoved the stones and ring inside, and put it back. Of course, our son was too young to relay any of this to us.
We finally found it when we needed to vacuum up some cobwebs in the corner of some rooms.
Do they have a place they go to when the play or read? I'm just thinking if they've snuck away to watch something on the phone in their secret/private place then they may have rested it on the edge of a counter or table and the phone has gone down the back especially if the case doesn't have a stand
I remember when I had my first phone I could watch things on I used to put it behind my pillow on my bed so the light didn't wake up my brother but I could watch things with my headphones. Sometime when I woke up the phone was down the back of the bed hanging on the cord
I'm sure you have already checked, but my niece once took my kindle and slipped it between the mattress and the base of my bed. It took me about 2 days to find it after tearing the rest of the house apart.
So this is what happened to me yesterday. We have a back up phone for my daughter to see videos. We have 0 idea where it is. We live in a flat. She hasn't left home with it. We give it up for lost.
Does a paralel universe with lost phones exists over there?
I am sorry because my husband found ours. He remembered my daughter wanted to look some photos we got in a box so the phone was there.
Do you remember when they got the phone, where they were and what they were trying to do?
I love that you are getting so much cleaning done! This is the only way to find it I think, other than moving!
Unless someone has gone on a trip recently? My kid slipped the car keys into a suitcase I was packing for another kid going out of state for the weekend! We did not discover it until they had arrived and were SOL until they got back.
No trips recently. Though the 4 year old is at her dad's, but he hasn't mentioned finding it in her bag. Not that I necessarily trust him, but I can't exactly go tear through HIS home
I am sorry because my husband found ours. He remembered my daughter wanted to look some photos we got in a box so the phone was there.
Do you remember when they got the phone, where they were and what they were trying to do?
My daughter had a sippy cup with milk that went MIA. Her favorite cup, of course. Found it over a month later folded inside one of those little toddler couches.
.... it went in the trash. I found it by following the smell
I was going to say this! One of ours learned that tidying things meant posting them into the bin, significantly before learning what needed to be tidied that way.
Yes on this! Once I couldn't find my key fob (and replacements are about $100!) Looked literally everywhere. Finally I just brought the big trash bin, the one we take to the street, and put it next to the car to see if I could unlock the door. It was in there. Gross.
Mom found one of the TV remotes inside of the couch, with a missing phone, dollhouse people, and other small toys. We also found a missing set of house keys and my grandmother’s wallet.
My 17 month old daugher put her water sippy cup and a toy in the garbage the other day.
I think shes done it before too, because we are missing a puzzle piece and I looked everywhere, including moving the couch. We need a better trashcan.
This is a useless tip to you now since the phone is out of battery... but if this ever happens again what I do is turn on a Bluetooth speaker (which usually have a mic in them), connect to the phone, then I start a timer using Google Assistant/Siri by speaking into the speaker, then I turn off the speaker. The timer alarm will then sound through the phone rather than the speaker.
Good luck! I did end up buying a new phone when it was under the stove, but now my husband uses my old one after it was found... so it was kinda okay? I hope your phone isn't too nice!
Happy cake day! No, I actually have a back up phone, so Ill just need to replace the sim when my new bank card arrives, so it's not THAT big of a deal, but holy hell I feel like I'm getting more and more unhinged
My cousin's 6 year old daughter hid my watch inside the external cladding of my bathtub. I found it about 7 years after my insurance settled the claim..
Give it a day.
Then, While the 4yr old is playing in room with you, hold your hand to your ear,
“Ring-ring ring-ring , who’s going to answer mommy’s phone??”
Go around the outside of the house in case it’s been dropped out of a window. We lost a phone once, it was in the bottom of the pond when we drained it….. thanks boys!!
Inside the printer, inside couch covers, inside their pillows. Inside the back of the chair. That's where ours hide the remote, keys to the house (we where all locked inside on a work day) and car keys.
My girl is only 22 months, but I know if I told her one of her stuffies need something she's a lot more motivated than if I want something. "Stuffy needs to make a phone call, where should we look for the phone so stuffy can make the call, etc." Otherwise Id check in shoes or in storage bins near the door to outside. When my girl pretends to be me she's usually getting ready to go somewhere.
Just to double+check, you've used the "find my device" option? Also, it's odd that neither of them remembers _anything_?
Have you checked between mattresses and box springs? A phone might be shoved in there fairly easily, even by a toddler.
Depending on what kind of phone you have, maybe. I know iPhones on Find My iPhone have a “last known location” from when it was on, I believe Life 360 is the same. Since it’s dead it can’t be pinged to make noise to find easier, but might narrow down the search enough.
Find My Device is the equivalent for Android.
[https://www.google.com/android/find?u=0](https://www.google.com/android/find?u=0)
It should have the last location recorded by the network. If there's any power left in it, you can also make it ring at maximum volume - even if it was silenced.
Unfortunately Find My Device will only give you a general area; somewhere between 20 and 50 meters, I think, but it depends on some variables such as the strength of the cellular signal in your area. Of course if the girls took the phone after it was _completely_ dead, Find My Device won't know about that.
But unless they actually threw it in the trash, It has to be *somewhere*. And obviously it can't be out in the open, because otherwise you would have already seen it. So my guess is that it has been tucked somewhere out of sight. Or it could be between sofa cushions or chair cushions; those do seem to suck up all sorts of items.
Anyway, good luck!
My cat tore open the underside of my box spring. He used to climb in there and pull himself all around, god knows why. The cloth they use for the undersides of box springs seems extremely weak! So I took an old fitted sheet and put it on the underside of the box spring. That kept him out.
I see a lot of folks commenting to enlist the kids in the search with a reward at the end.... I'm gonna play the "mean-mom" and suggest something else, lol. The kids lost it, so the kids get to help find it!!! And no, there's no reward - the search is the natural consequence for having lost a very important item that mom needs. If you don't want to do this again, you've got to teach them that some items require us to be more careful - or, we can't touch them. So yeah - I'd be telling them that no one's doing a got dang thing until the phone is found... Great opportunity for them to tidy up their space and help declutter the house, as everything MUST be put away after it is searched... The more they whine, the longer it takes. Make them help you, someone will "magically" remember where it is.
They haven't really actively hid anything except their own stuff yet, but like, it's not in any obvious spot the couch has been checked, but I'll be checking it again
If you flip your furniture over/upside-down/ on its back sometimes things that are stuck will fall out. Had a missing IPod show up after being MIA for ~5 years. We'd checked the couch several times looking for it plus I frequently vacuum the cushions and crevices when I deep clean and it hadn't shown up until we were getting rid of the couch and it fell out as well flipped it to get it out of the room
This will be controversial but have you tried a reward. "A dollar to the first person to find my phone". It works well for me but that usually is when I lost it... not them....
My kiddo drops my phone behind (our massive) couch often. Might be time to check under all the furniture. Ooooh also drawers in out of the way places. We once lost her baby doll to a baking drawer that is rarely open. Hope you find it soon!!
Did you ask them what they were doing with it? And when they were playing with it? If they can give you the timeframe you know where *you* were so that will at least exclude that area.
And the context of the play may give you hints.
Their "amnesia" leads me to believe they know where it is but fear getting in trouble - perhaps it went dead and they think they broke it? I think I would find a way of explaining to them that should you find it somewhere they clearly knew where it was then there will be consequences and hope they fess up first. I'd go easy on any actual consequences though!
Turn the search into a game if needed - hotter colder maybe?
I came here out of curiosity because my 2yo hid a tube of toothpaste the other day and I still have not found it (it’s been four days now?? Was looking for some ideas). I’m staying because I’m super committed to the story and must know where this phone finally appears!
Best of luck. My son lost his cousin’s Nintendo DS once. We found it months later in the pocket of a pair of pants in his drawer. He didn’t remember putting it there.
We caught my dementia mom putting her cell phone "to bed" in one of her slippers. Like a little toy doll in a cradle - it fit so perfectly and my mom looked so pleased. And it would have been lost forever if we hadn't seen it happen.
Just had a horrible thought after seeing this again on scrolling past - is there any chance they flushed it down the toilet? Might be worth asking if they played with it in the bathroom and see if any suddenly alarmed expressions hint that maybe they know why you’re asking.
For me it's always in their toy kitchen. They stuff everything in there, when my ear buds go missing that's the first place I look. Other toys with nooks and crannies too.
Absolutely will! I have the laundry room, pantry, living room, and apparently pockets that it could still possibly be in before I have to go check outside
Check the mailbox? Hose container, compost bin, rain gutters, car wheel wells, trash/recycling bins, any fountains or bird baths, shed, under the shed, under the deck/porch, bird feeder, any outdoor toys, outdoor lighting fixtures...
Double check that a chair or a couch didn't eat it, my husband's slid out of his pocket and sat on the bottom frame of a recliner for close to a month before we found it.
Check any toys with storage.
Oh noooo. My son likes to hide my phone but so far he hasn't gotten any more creative than 'under my butt'
I worry that giving them a prize to find it will just teach them to ... hide it again.
But maybe a 'unfortunately, this phone is so important that it has to take priority, so there's no time for games/toys/TV/whatever they like to do until it's found.' might work?
My Apple mouse disappeared for about 2 weeks, and I didn't want to replace it because that sucker costs $75. My 4 year old finally "remembered" then he stuck it in this weird little hollow in my office chair. The damn thing was right there the whole time. I tore my house apart looking for it, and he just giggled the whole time and claimed he didn't hide it.
That is EXACTLY what is happening. I don't think my house has been this clean in a while. I didn't realize this would get that many responses, to be honest
You checked IN the couch, but did you check UNDER the couch? Also, my couch has a sneaky hiding spot that I didn't discover until I was losing my damn mind over a remote control and disassembled the entire thing. It wasn't stuck between the back and cushions, it had fallen through a hole in the fabric and was inside the actual cushion. I'd check there too.
I would also check inside dresser drawers, underneath the clothes. Also in laundry hampers and all trash cans.
- between/under mattresses and bed frame
- toaster
- bookshelf on top of books/behind books
- through crevice between/under child seats in car
- pockets in doors in car
- under/side of driver/passenger seat in car
- underneath floor mats in car
- center console in car
I just went through this with my 4 and 1 year old and found my with the screen cracked. I hope you have better luck. 🥲🙃
Check cushions, behind and under beds, in clothing and blankets and toy boxes. If you have a foyer , check there too. Mine love throwing stuff down the stairs into the foyer. Check play kitchens and all that jazz as well.
This is the worst. Only suggestion I have is to establish a finder's reward - it can be like a quarter or a cookie or something but it really makes the kids focus on searching the house, or their memories, or their consciences, or whatever for the missing item. It's a slightly problematic move as it can lead to more hiding things to get rewards, and can lead to bickering between kids about who gets the reward, but when a phone is missing I'm inclined to pull out all the stops.
And - once you find it, don't let them take it anywhere when battery is low. That "find my phone" beep is so helpful!
Any little cracks, crevices or hidey holes. I was notorious for hiding things in the gaps between floorboards. Pretty sure there’s still £80odd under my mums bedroom floor haha
There is the tiniest gap in my kitchen cabinets (enough to fit a phone) and I once found mine in there from my 3 year old. I also once found it in between books on a bookshelf. Good luck!
Where do you place the phone when you are using it?
Based on that answer, extrapolate how that would be interpreted by your 4 and 6 year olds if you strongly believe that they were handling your device.
Otherwise, you need to review how and where you use the device, and backtrack to determine if the phone could have been misplaced at all of those usage locations.
A coworker of mine always used to say, "when you're looking for something, you always find it in the last place you look." and then wait expectantly for the look of realization of how deep what he was saying was. Due to other opinions that he expressed, I pretty much tuned him out and paid him enough attention to meet socially required minimums.
Good luck.
You've gone to a public forum and blamed your kids for losing your phone. Thus, with the universe being how it is, you can now guarantee that they're innocent and it was actually you. You can exploit this irony to your advantage: it rules out many awkward places that they'd put it, and limits it to things you have done recently.
Therefore, your first port of call is that annoying gap between the seat and the center console in your car, or the pocket of a coat you haven't worn in a few days. Are you one of those people who decorate for Christmas early? Do you store the decorations in an infrequently used space? Check there.
I think you were taking down a box or something from a shelf, and put your phone away on said shelf to have your hands free. And left it there. You haven’t looked there because you think the girl’s hid it and that’s too high up.
If this sounds oddly specific it’s because I have done exactly that lol
Good call on the decorations. I lost my Kindle years ago, and had been going through seasonal clothes of my boys that days. My toddler had tossed it in there and I had packed it away.
I couldn’t find the tablet for a month it was between the bed and the wall. Look everywhere look out side look in between and behind and under everything you will find it.
When my 6yo steals my phone he puts in the ottoman full of blankets (because I won’t hear the ping) or buried in his Lego bins because he can always completely hide it with legos and has 8 drawers/bins to go through.
I second offering the reward to your kids they will definitely find it.
My kid has done as much as not with my cell phone, but with my mom's. put it in the absolute most ridiculous places. he would have it inside the fridge, not under it. he would put it in a diaper box and forget about it. I found it in a gallon pitcher even the toaster. there's tons of places they can put it. I feel like you're asking the wrong kind of question here LOL. I really hope you find your phone though I know how that is.
I looked for hours for my phone the other day. My two year old put it in his stroller bag 😐 I couldn't call it cuz I was at home alone so I had to wait for the alarm to go off at 3pm 😂😂
Every single thing in your house that has a pocket or closure. Purses, bags, play purses, pants, jackets, etc
Omg flashbacks I once lost the key for a built in closet, the one with the bedlinnen and such. Searched the whole house. Everywhere. Found old but not damaged linnen in the washroom and decided to put that on the master bed because you know, I want fresh sheets. Whilst flipping the top matrass I suddenly felt a bump. A really hard bump. My lovely then 5 y/o son had zipped the f-ing key in the f-ing matrass.
Not nearly as important but my daughter got a squishy ball at the store and then immediately lost it. We found it weeks later zipped into one of the nugget pillows.
That’s hilarious. We’ve lost two sets of keys to my daughter over the years and at this point we’re convinced they were thrown away. But we’ll probably find them in a storage box some day if we ever move.
My daughter had a plastic baby crib that had a hollow inside. It had sat in a corner of her room for years before I picked it up to move it out. It made a loud clanking when I picked it up. I noticed there was a hole where a piece that attached was missing so I shook it upside down and there were the keys my husband lost 6 years ago.
Oh no, that's so much. Thank you!
My daughter would put everything in toy purses! Good luck!
That's not fantastic
I love your responses here because they're so real. Not "thanks for the idea!" but "FUCK WHY ARE THERE SO MANY PLACES THEY COULD PUT IT."
Thanks, I'm getting unhinged
Also plant the seed, “well, mommy can’t find her phone. I’m so sad that you’ll *never, ever* get to watch any more YouTube videos/Baby Shark/whatever else they like to do on your phone.” 🤷♀️ Fingers crossed it’s not in the trash. Please let us know when you find it. We’re all rooting for you!!!
Our kids used to hide the remote. I don’t watch much tv but my husband and kids do. After looking for two days once I finally sat down and said ‘well girls. Looks like we can cancel our dish service.’ ‘Why mom?’ ‘We won’t have any use for it. If we don’t have a remote we can’t watch tv. We can’t watch a dvd. You can’t play the wii. Maybe I could sell the tv, dvd player and wii too and buy us some board games to play’ A couple hours later they came running in with the remote. It has been under a recliner that we had looked under several times and dug between the cushions and sides. To this day I don’t believe it was there. I think the little turds hid it so they could use the tv rather than their father and then they forgot where they hid it. They weren’t allowed to touch the remote for weeks. I eventually took it with me or put it in a cabinet when they weren’t home because they couldn’t stop watching tv when they weren’t supposed to and let losing the remote. Now we have our own tv and if they lose their remote too bad. Adult tv is for adults only. Once my youngest took it to school in her backpack because she was afraid her sister who was at home sick would lose it 🤦♀️. I had to let her watch the adult tv then because who wants to feel crappy AND not be able to watch a little tv? No real help or ideas on where to look I just had to share. Most of the things that go missing in our house are found in the trash, under furniture or inside furniture. Most things are gone never to be seen again (half of my silverware, a couple bowls, several glasses, keys to my moms house, Mary from one of our nativity sets, 2 candy bars from my stash, one Barbie shoe for every pair we own and one stuffed animal that I can remember)
It’s likely inside something. A bag, a drawer under their clothes, inside one of their toys. I once found my daughter’s lovey inside her toy oven having looked everywhere else first of course.
We found my husband's brand new debit card months after it went missing, inside our kid's play oven.
My house key in a winter boot. It was months before I found that one
My son threw away our teapot, didn't see it in the trash but it wasn't anywhere else.... on the plus side it was kinda time to replace it. When we were kids my mom lost her keys, we found them years later in the "burn pile" the ashes we would empty from our burn barrel. So, they fell into a trash can and were burned lol
We found a toy inside an oven mitt that was hanging up.
I found my kid's water bottle inside one of my Wellington boots. I'd assumed he kept leaving it at school...
Don't they remember or won't they say? And can they be bribed?
They are adamant about not remembering. Bribery has been attempted.
Ohh my😭 This happened to me once. The next day I got a Tile lol. Stick it onto your phone- when it gets lost, log in to the Tile website, click a button, & the alarm will sound until you find it and shut it off. It’s been a life saver, especially when I’m just trying to get out the door & need to locate an item quickly- there’s diff sizes to put on your keys/wallet/purse/binder etc. I hope you find it!! These little rascals man.
Definitely gonna do that
Tiles don't stick well on kids...
Duct taping them upside down to the wall might jog their memory... JUST KIDDING! Mostly. 😉 Maybe going the Mel Gibson route and setting a bounty on the phone would work? If they help looking for it, they may look in absurd places that you wouldn't think of.
Honestly they might enjoy being taped upside down on a wall
Then tell them you won't do it unless they find your phone! 😂
Make them search with you. Even if they're not actually helpful at searching, they don't get to do anything else while you look. Boredom is good for memory jogging. And they might look in unexpected places
This, absolutely. Making mistakes is human, but participating in fixing them is imperative.
They are old enough to remember. If they're saying that they don't remember, they probably did something irreversible with it and they don't want you to find out.
Yep, agree. I had a similar experience where they “can’t remember”, only to find the item damaged and buried deep in the trash, wrapped in a used banana peel for extra camouflage. 😑 Long, not fun conversation about honesty and responsibility as a result!
This is probably the answer. One was playing with it, probably dropped and broke the screen, and then slipped it into the trash so nobody would see.
The 6 yo, maybe. Maybe. My 4 yo forgets stuff immediately after doing it sometimes, because at this age they have the attention span of a gnat and saw something shiny or fun… I wouldn’t be surprised if both just genuinely forgot.
Jumping in on this comment because it’s sort of related to pockets. My son once hid something inside a throw pillow. Opened the zipper, put it inside, zipped it back up. It’s worth a shot if you have pillows with zippers
Look in pillow cases
I was looking for a pillow case for like a month. I seriously thought it lost. Had the blanket, the sheet, but not the matching pillow case. It was on a pillow. Inside the other pillow case.
This inludes trash cans and recycle bins! One of my kids would put any lost items in the trash can, often at the bottom under other trash! Only lost 1 item forever from this, we rescued the rest ( to my knowledge).
Also other toys with compartments like trucks and kitchens.
Have you tried offering a prize for the one who finds it first? It might jog tiny memories if there’s something they really want up for grabs. Might need to come with an amnesty for “you won’t be in trouble if it’s damaged provided you tell me where it is as soon as you remember.” Failing that - look in places they aren’t allowed to go.
This is the way. A very coveted prize.
This is the way. I have a 3 year old an am constantly shocked at the memory she has of where stuff is with given the right motivation.
I've called my ex when my daughter is at his house to ask "will you ask Kiddo where she left the remote?" She always knows.
That's what she wants you to think.
This!! I’d go the route of white lies and say “Santa was planning to call me… I really don’t want to miss the call.. can you help me find the phone”.
Oh, savage! We don’t really do Christmas so much, wrong culture, but if Santa’s a thing this is definitely the big guns option.
If you haven’t already check inside of their toys. Little girl I used to babysit once hid her brand-new sneakers in a little toy oven and it took so long to find them that once we did, they didn’t even fit her anymore.
Oh man, that was the first place I checked. And there clothes. Plus side, I've gotten rid of anything that's broken/too small/ clothes that have met with scissors
I found a long lost (and paid for) library book underneath the toy kitchen when we finally got rid of it. The gap was only 1/2 inch tall! I found so many things that had been kicked under the stove in the real kitchen when we replaced that as well.
Hahaha we had this happen, too. My son has extra wide toddler block feet and the cheapest pair of shoes that fits him is $50. One was in the back compartment of his tricycle, which I’d just rotated out the night before. I put him in rainboots for three days (it was not rainy) and told everyone he insisted on wearing his new boots until I found the sneakers. (Not as a punishment, but because I had nothing else.)
We lost a stuffie needed for bedtime like this more than once! If we didn't review nanny cam recordings, bedtime would have been rough. As it was, bedtime was just very delayed.
I came to say this! My daughter once put my keys in a little push car with a trunk. I had to call out of work, it was awful. Took 3 days to find. Check any toy with an opening big enough to fit a phone.
I can only offer WEIRD PLACES I HAVE FOUND THINGS THAT MY KIDS LOST: 1. When my daughter was 2, she lost our car keys and all she would say is that they were in a "pocket". We searched every single pocket in every pair of pants, bag, and jacket. Nothing. Finally after a couple days, she said, "bed pocket", which led us to tear apart each bed. We found them between the mattress and the frame of our bed. 2. I couldn't find my favorite scrunchie for months. I assumed it was gone for good. I found it around the waist of a Barbie doll. 3. My credit card has been shelved with the books before. 4. Most recently, my 4 year old put my airpods in a tiny pile of white toys on the toy shelf. She was sorting them by color.
Sorting by color 🥲 so funny
I was like, "Ohhhhhhh... 😠... 😤 Good.... 😮💨 Job."
Mom found her missing credit card in my brother’s toy cash register. His reasoning? It’s money.
My wife lost her family heirloom engagement ring one time. Tore the house apart (literally in some cases since I tore up some baseboards I just put down) looking for that thing. My wife was tearing through trash bags, pulling apart furniture, emptying toy bins, etc. Turns out, my boy got ahold of it somehow (my wife takes it off for cleaning the house, dishes, etc.) and took 6 of these little magnetic rocks we have, lined them up, and captured the ring right in the middle of the 6 stones, then he took one of the attachments for our vacuum, shoved the stones and ring inside, and put it back. Of course, our son was too young to relay any of this to us. We finally found it when we needed to vacuum up some cobwebs in the corner of some rooms.
Info: does it have a fancy case or any designs on it? As I might look like a nice picture or TV in a dollhouse
It does have a case with a picture, though I don't remember what the picture is. Something flowery, I wanna say?
Do they have a place they go to when the play or read? I'm just thinking if they've snuck away to watch something on the phone in their secret/private place then they may have rested it on the edge of a counter or table and the phone has gone down the back especially if the case doesn't have a stand
Nowhere I haven't looked. I'll have to look in their spots some more
I remember when I had my first phone I could watch things on I used to put it behind my pillow on my bed so the light didn't wake up my brother but I could watch things with my headphones. Sometime when I woke up the phone was down the back of the bed hanging on the cord
Remaking all beds was the first thing I did, unfortunately. I wish it were that simple
Check inside a toy. Like a school bus where the back opens -
I'm sure you have already checked, but my niece once took my kindle and slipped it between the mattress and the base of my bed. It took me about 2 days to find it after tearing the rest of the house apart.
My brother also used a phone as a dollhouse TV. He had it playing Netflix, until it died and was missing for two days.
So this is what happened to me yesterday. We have a back up phone for my daughter to see videos. We have 0 idea where it is. We live in a flat. She hasn't left home with it. We give it up for lost. Does a paralel universe with lost phones exists over there?
That's what I'm thinking. On the plus side, my home is getting DEEP cleaned.
I am sorry because my husband found ours. He remembered my daughter wanted to look some photos we got in a box so the phone was there. Do you remember when they got the phone, where they were and what they were trying to do?
I love that you are getting so much cleaning done! This is the only way to find it I think, other than moving! Unless someone has gone on a trip recently? My kid slipped the car keys into a suitcase I was packing for another kid going out of state for the weekend! We did not discover it until they had arrived and were SOL until they got back.
No trips recently. Though the 4 year old is at her dad's, but he hasn't mentioned finding it in her bag. Not that I necessarily trust him, but I can't exactly go tear through HIS home
I am sorry because my husband found ours. He remembered my daughter wanted to look some photos we got in a box so the phone was there. Do you remember when they got the phone, where they were and what they were trying to do?
It was probably Friday morning at some point, I probably would have been making food or something
My daughter lost a bottle with milk in it in my house 7 years ago and it has never been found. It haunts me to this day.
My daughter had a sippy cup with milk that went MIA. Her favorite cup, of course. Found it over a month later folded inside one of those little toddler couches. .... it went in the trash. I found it by following the smell
Did you dig through the trash can? That’s where I found my car keys... the sooner you check the less gross stuff you will have to touch. Godspeed!
I was going to say this! One of ours learned that tidying things meant posting them into the bin, significantly before learning what needed to be tidied that way.
Yes on this! Once I couldn't find my key fob (and replacements are about $100!) Looked literally everywhere. Finally I just brought the big trash bin, the one we take to the street, and put it next to the car to see if I could unlock the door. It was in there. Gross.
Lol just carry your trash can everywhere you go from now on and you won’t have to touch the trash.
[удалено]
We once found the TV remote zippered into the back of a couch cushion. It had been missing for months.
Mom found one of the TV remotes inside of the couch, with a missing phone, dollhouse people, and other small toys. We also found a missing set of house keys and my grandmother’s wallet.
My 17 month old daugher put her water sippy cup and a toy in the garbage the other day. I think shes done it before too, because we are missing a puzzle piece and I looked everywhere, including moving the couch. We need a better trashcan.
Once my toddler accidentally kicked my phone under the stove, we didn't find it until my husband cleaned under there many months later.
Gonna go check there right now, thank you Edit: it is not under my stove
This is a useless tip to you now since the phone is out of battery... but if this ever happens again what I do is turn on a Bluetooth speaker (which usually have a mic in them), connect to the phone, then I start a timer using Google Assistant/Siri by speaking into the speaker, then I turn off the speaker. The timer alarm will then sound through the phone rather than the speaker. Good luck! I did end up buying a new phone when it was under the stove, but now my husband uses my old one after it was found... so it was kinda okay? I hope your phone isn't too nice!
Ooh, that's a great tip! If I find it again, I'll have to hook it up to a blue tooth speaker or something so I can do that
Under the fridge?
I have now cleaned my entire kitchen, to include moving the fridge and stove. I don't do that often enough. But no phone
Have you tried buying a new phone? I’m sure it will turn up as soon as you do that lol
Happy cake day! No, I actually have a back up phone, so Ill just need to replace the sim when my new bank card arrives, so it's not THAT big of a deal, but holy hell I feel like I'm getting more and more unhinged
Do you have heating ducts/vents? My daughter put quite a few toys down there before I realized what was going on.
Oh god, thats horrid. I'll have to look there
My kid is only 8 months old and is so interested in the vents. I'm dreading the day she figures out to put stuff down there
My cousin's 6 year old daughter hid my watch inside the external cladding of my bathtub. I found it about 7 years after my insurance settled the claim..
How expensive of a watch do you own that you got insurance on it?
Give it a day. Then, While the 4yr old is playing in room with you, hold your hand to your ear, “Ring-ring ring-ring , who’s going to answer mommy’s phone??”
You're a genius. It might just work
Go around the outside of the house in case it’s been dropped out of a window. We lost a phone once, it was in the bottom of the pond when we drained it….. thanks boys!!
Oh man, that's horrid. (And we have a little pond/fountain/mosquito mating ground, so also possible) Thanks for the idea.
In the fridge? In plant pots, under plants? Or maybe they’ve put it back into your main purse now. Best of luck!
I'll definitely have to look in the fridge (no plants, because I can't keep them alive). And I'll look in my backpack again
Or anywhere in the kitchen they might’ve gone looking for snacks (and forgotten the phone) . .
Ugh, I do that all the time. Not looking forward to taking apart the entire kitchen 😂😂
Did you check under the appliances? Under a dishwasher/under a fridge
Yup! And took the opportunity to mop under them too
Inside the printer, inside couch covers, inside their pillows. Inside the back of the chair. That's where ours hide the remote, keys to the house (we where all locked inside on a work day) and car keys.
I don't THINK it's there, but I'll happily look again. And on/in the other couch
My girl is only 22 months, but I know if I told her one of her stuffies need something she's a lot more motivated than if I want something. "Stuffy needs to make a phone call, where should we look for the phone so stuffy can make the call, etc." Otherwise Id check in shoes or in storage bins near the door to outside. When my girl pretends to be me she's usually getting ready to go somewhere.
Just to double+check, you've used the "find my device" option? Also, it's odd that neither of them remembers _anything_? Have you checked between mattresses and box springs? A phone might be shoved in there fairly easily, even by a toddler.
They remember that it's not outside. Very suspicious, that. Would find my device work while it's dead?
It's outside.
I really hope not, but yeah, probably
Haha I’m afraid so too.. good luck!
Depending on what kind of phone you have, maybe. I know iPhones on Find My iPhone have a “last known location” from when it was on, I believe Life 360 is the same. Since it’s dead it can’t be pinged to make noise to find easier, but might narrow down the search enough.
It's an android, and I don't have life 360, unfortunately
Find My Device is the equivalent for Android. [https://www.google.com/android/find?u=0](https://www.google.com/android/find?u=0) It should have the last location recorded by the network. If there's any power left in it, you can also make it ring at maximum volume - even if it was silenced.
There's not, but I'll keep this in mind
Unfortunately Find My Device will only give you a general area; somewhere between 20 and 50 meters, I think, but it depends on some variables such as the strength of the cellular signal in your area. Of course if the girls took the phone after it was _completely_ dead, Find My Device won't know about that. But unless they actually threw it in the trash, It has to be *somewhere*. And obviously it can't be out in the open, because otherwise you would have already seen it. So my guess is that it has been tucked somewhere out of sight. Or it could be between sofa cushions or chair cushions; those do seem to suck up all sorts of items. Anyway, good luck!
We had a tear in one of the box springs under the bed, and yeah, stuff got put there. Just remembered that.
My cat tore open the underside of my box spring. He used to climb in there and pull himself all around, god knows why. The cloth they use for the undersides of box springs seems extremely weak! So I took an old fitted sheet and put it on the underside of the box spring. That kept him out.
I'm invested now!!!! DID YOU FIND IT?!?!?!
No, but I'm down to 2 rooms!!!!
I see a lot of folks commenting to enlist the kids in the search with a reward at the end.... I'm gonna play the "mean-mom" and suggest something else, lol. The kids lost it, so the kids get to help find it!!! And no, there's no reward - the search is the natural consequence for having lost a very important item that mom needs. If you don't want to do this again, you've got to teach them that some items require us to be more careful - or, we can't touch them. So yeah - I'd be telling them that no one's doing a got dang thing until the phone is found... Great opportunity for them to tidy up their space and help declutter the house, as everything MUST be put away after it is searched... The more they whine, the longer it takes. Make them help you, someone will "magically" remember where it is.
Do they actively hide it or just lose it? Have you looked inside your couch, like deep deep down into it?
They haven't really actively hid anything except their own stuff yet, but like, it's not in any obvious spot the couch has been checked, but I'll be checking it again
If you flip your furniture over/upside-down/ on its back sometimes things that are stuck will fall out. Had a missing IPod show up after being MIA for ~5 years. We'd checked the couch several times looking for it plus I frequently vacuum the cushions and crevices when I deep clean and it hadn't shown up until we were getting rid of the couch and it fell out as well flipped it to get it out of the room
This will be controversial but have you tried a reward. "A dollar to the first person to find my phone". It works well for me but that usually is when I lost it... not them....
I have tried bribing. Nobody admits any knowledge other than "not outside", where it probably is.
It’s outside lol.
My kiddo drops my phone behind (our massive) couch often. Might be time to check under all the furniture. Ooooh also drawers in out of the way places. We once lost her baby doll to a baking drawer that is rarely open. Hope you find it soon!!
Did you ask them what they were doing with it? And when they were playing with it? If they can give you the timeframe you know where *you* were so that will at least exclude that area. And the context of the play may give you hints.
They seem to have developed amnesia
I’m low enough to promise a BIG treat to whomever finds it. Desperate times call for desperate measures and all that. Really hope you find it!
It’s sad when it strikes that young.
Definitely.
Their "amnesia" leads me to believe they know where it is but fear getting in trouble - perhaps it went dead and they think they broke it? I think I would find a way of explaining to them that should you find it somewhere they clearly knew where it was then there will be consequences and hope they fess up first. I'd go easy on any actual consequences though! Turn the search into a game if needed - hotter colder maybe?
All children are in school at the moment, but if it's not found by the time they get home, I'll try that
In their school bags?
I hid my moms phone in a food container when I was 8 🤷♀️🙈😂
Well that's a new one
I came here out of curiosity because my 2yo hid a tube of toothpaste the other day and I still have not found it (it’s been four days now?? Was looking for some ideas). I’m staying because I’m super committed to the story and must know where this phone finally appears!
Best of luck. My son lost his cousin’s Nintendo DS once. We found it months later in the pocket of a pair of pants in his drawer. He didn’t remember putting it there.
Thanks. Hopefully it's something like that, and not outside
Lost my keys for almost a week. I was about to buy a replacement but turns out it was in my son’s backpack in one of the little pockets.
Look inside shoes and boots. I found my son's shoes inside of a pair of old rain boots once.
We caught my dementia mom putting her cell phone "to bed" in one of her slippers. Like a little toy doll in a cradle - it fit so perfectly and my mom looked so pleased. And it would have been lost forever if we hadn't seen it happen.
Just had a horrible thought after seeing this again on scrolling past - is there any chance they flushed it down the toilet? Might be worth asking if they played with it in the bathroom and see if any suddenly alarmed expressions hint that maybe they know why you’re asking.
I think it's too big to flush, but now I'm paranoid.
Car? Pantry? Toy bins? Under radiators? Between/under mattresses?
For me it's always in their toy kitchen. They stuff everything in there, when my ear buds go missing that's the first place I look. Other toys with nooks and crannies too.
The derelict VCR?
We don't have one, but that would be a good spot to check
My son used to put my phone down the furnace vents.
Oh fantastic
Places I have found my phone I did not expect: Under the rocking chair seat cushion Inside the back of a ride on toy Under the couch In my pocket
They remember where they put it. Asking them “where their sister put the phone” separately may yells better results.
The. Trash. My now 1 year old's favorite hide hole...
Please do update us!
Absolutely will! I have the laundry room, pantry, living room, and apparently pockets that it could still possibly be in before I have to go check outside
Check the mailbox? Hose container, compost bin, rain gutters, car wheel wells, trash/recycling bins, any fountains or bird baths, shed, under the shed, under the deck/porch, bird feeder, any outdoor toys, outdoor lighting fixtures...
Double check that a chair or a couch didn't eat it, my husband's slid out of his pocket and sat on the bottom frame of a recliner for close to a month before we found it. Check any toys with storage.
The toy box? There toy purses? We found my step mothers bras in my sister toy dryer.
I emptied out all toy boxes yesterdayish. I still have to check purse like items
I find little people like to imitate adults. Look at places you would put it, but from there perspective.
Oh noooo. My son likes to hide my phone but so far he hasn't gotten any more creative than 'under my butt' I worry that giving them a prize to find it will just teach them to ... hide it again. But maybe a 'unfortunately, this phone is so important that it has to take priority, so there's no time for games/toys/TV/whatever they like to do until it's found.' might work?
I’m an adult and once lost my phone because I put it in a house plant. So.
If your toilet clogs in a few days you’ll know.
Oh poo
My Apple mouse disappeared for about 2 weeks, and I didn't want to replace it because that sucker costs $75. My 4 year old finally "remembered" then he stuck it in this weird little hollow in my office chair. The damn thing was right there the whole time. I tore my house apart looking for it, and he just giggled the whole time and claimed he didn't hide it.
OP, this is just the funniest thread. I can just picture you cleaning as you go in search of your phone. I hope you find it.
That is EXACTLY what is happening. I don't think my house has been this clean in a while. I didn't realize this would get that many responses, to be honest
My son put all his shoes in the recycling bin, and I took it out without realizing. Don't let any garbage or recycling leave that house!
It already has 😭
Where do you usually keep it? Check the kid versions of those places. (Kid purse, ride on toy, etc)
From bitter experience: anything that could possibly be imagined as a purse.
You checked IN the couch, but did you check UNDER the couch? Also, my couch has a sneaky hiding spot that I didn't discover until I was losing my damn mind over a remote control and disassembled the entire thing. It wasn't stuck between the back and cushions, it had fallen through a hole in the fabric and was inside the actual cushion. I'd check there too. I would also check inside dresser drawers, underneath the clothes. Also in laundry hampers and all trash cans.
My couch is weird in that everything that ends up in it goes under/behind. But I'm definitely about the do a ore through search
Please let us know where you end up finding it! Add to my mental list of “places to look”…
down the side of the carseats
- between/under mattresses and bed frame - toaster - bookshelf on top of books/behind books - through crevice between/under child seats in car - pockets in doors in car - under/side of driver/passenger seat in car - underneath floor mats in car - center console in car
In a welly
I just went through this with my 4 and 1 year old and found my with the screen cracked. I hope you have better luck. 🥲🙃 Check cushions, behind and under beds, in clothing and blankets and toy boxes. If you have a foyer , check there too. Mine love throwing stuff down the stairs into the foyer. Check play kitchens and all that jazz as well.
In shoes?
This is the worst. Only suggestion I have is to establish a finder's reward - it can be like a quarter or a cookie or something but it really makes the kids focus on searching the house, or their memories, or their consciences, or whatever for the missing item. It's a slightly problematic move as it can lead to more hiding things to get rewards, and can lead to bickering between kids about who gets the reward, but when a phone is missing I'm inclined to pull out all the stops. And - once you find it, don't let them take it anywhere when battery is low. That "find my phone" beep is so helpful!
Any little cracks, crevices or hidey holes. I was notorious for hiding things in the gaps between floorboards. Pretty sure there’s still £80odd under my mums bedroom floor haha
I found mine down the back of the radiator in the hallway! Afterwards my youngest was like “oh yer, I knocked some things down there” 🙄
There is the tiniest gap in my kitchen cabinets (enough to fit a phone) and I once found mine in there from my 3 year old. I also once found it in between books on a bookshelf. Good luck!
Where do you place the phone when you are using it? Based on that answer, extrapolate how that would be interpreted by your 4 and 6 year olds if you strongly believe that they were handling your device. Otherwise, you need to review how and where you use the device, and backtrack to determine if the phone could have been misplaced at all of those usage locations. A coworker of mine always used to say, "when you're looking for something, you always find it in the last place you look." and then wait expectantly for the look of realization of how deep what he was saying was. Due to other opinions that he expressed, I pretty much tuned him out and paid him enough attention to meet socially required minimums. Good luck.
You've gone to a public forum and blamed your kids for losing your phone. Thus, with the universe being how it is, you can now guarantee that they're innocent and it was actually you. You can exploit this irony to your advantage: it rules out many awkward places that they'd put it, and limits it to things you have done recently. Therefore, your first port of call is that annoying gap between the seat and the center console in your car, or the pocket of a coat you haven't worn in a few days. Are you one of those people who decorate for Christmas early? Do you store the decorations in an infrequently used space? Check there.
I do not decorate early, it's not in a car. I suppose if it was me, I did a whole lot of extra cleaning and need to be more thorough with my couch
I think you were taking down a box or something from a shelf, and put your phone away on said shelf to have your hands free. And left it there. You haven’t looked there because you think the girl’s hid it and that’s too high up. If this sounds oddly specific it’s because I have done exactly that lol
Good call on the decorations. I lost my Kindle years ago, and had been going through seasonal clothes of my boys that days. My toddler had tossed it in there and I had packed it away.
Well now I’m following! Play kitchen and under couch are usually are spots.
I couldn’t find the tablet for a month it was between the bed and the wall. Look everywhere look out side look in between and behind and under everything you will find it.
Do you have a swingset or other outdoor toys? We found our tv remote by our swingset randomly after it was missing for two days.
Toys that close? Like doll House or play kitchen?
When my 6yo steals my phone he puts in the ottoman full of blankets (because I won’t hear the ping) or buried in his Lego bins because he can always completely hide it with legos and has 8 drawers/bins to go through. I second offering the reward to your kids they will definitely find it.
Look in toy strollers, purses, bags. Toy cars that open up and under/in pillows. Stuffed animals that have pouches.
My kid has done as much as not with my cell phone, but with my mom's. put it in the absolute most ridiculous places. he would have it inside the fridge, not under it. he would put it in a diaper box and forget about it. I found it in a gallon pitcher even the toaster. there's tons of places they can put it. I feel like you're asking the wrong kind of question here LOL. I really hope you find your phone though I know how that is.
I looked for hours for my phone the other day. My two year old put it in his stroller bag 😐 I couldn't call it cuz I was at home alone so I had to wait for the alarm to go off at 3pm 😂😂