If you have children, I’m sure you, too, have a lot of Orphan Mittens by now. Spring is only a few weeks away, yet I’m already surrounded by 12 pairs of Orphan Mittens that I’ve found in my front hall closet, car, and on tables all over the house, and one even in a bush on my front lawn.
I’m sure their Mitten Mates are looking for them, sadly dropped on a street corner or left in some lost and found bin at school or left behind on a bus. I actually feel sad for these poor Orphan mittens, which are mismatched and mis-sized. It’s not their fault they are now without their perfect mate. It’s our forgetful or disorganized children’s fault.
I would like just ONE winter to go by, without having to send my children off to school with mismatched gloves and mittens by the time it’s warm enough to not have to wear mittens. (Thankfully, my ten year old does not care yet about going off to school with mismatched gloves. Rather, she has NO choice.)
This is why I personally think that gloves and mittens should be sold in packages of three. That way, hopefully, by the end of mitten-wearing season, there will be at least a couple of the same mittens left…that match.
But mittens, or losing and finding them, is funny too. As parents, we want to know we’re not alone, that so many others have lost mittens as well. At www.ifoundyourmitten.com they have Mitten Finding Champions! Each year, the person who finds the most mittens is crowned “champion of the season.” Past winners have found mittens under car tires, city gutters, and in piles of snow. If you find a lost mitten, all you have to do is post it to instagram with the tag #ifoundyourmitten.
This is a great site for parents to procrastinate and possibly find where their kid’s mitten was lost! But, more likely, those now-single mittens will remain solo for the rest of their lives. Sigh.
So, it’s time to get crafty with those mittens, and not just use them as an old rag (Although you can! Reuse, Recycle!) You may be tempted, as I am, to just throw them out. But the trash doesn’t HAVE to be the final destination for those poor mismatched mittens, which have already lost their soul mate.
At www.mykidsadventures.com/mitten-doll/ there are numerous ways to create fun dolls with gloves and mittens. (Saving you money on buying a new doll!) Losing mittens is big business, it seems. And although it may seem like the end of the world, when you have to drop off your kids five minutes ago to school, and they can’t find a matching pair of gloves or mittens, it can be fun to read about lost mittens and what you can do WITH them. Check out www.whipup.net for some cute puppet mittens ideas and the crafts, tools and a tutorial. And if your child isn’t crafty, but you want to keep them busy with leftover mittens, buy a cheap bag of marbles and play “Guess how many marbles are in my mitten?” They can play with each other – sibling time while mommy naps time.
Collect all the solo gloves and make puppets, and later put on a show for you (hours killed!) Check out books, on www.amazon.com about mittens and their adventures and spend some quality time with your children reading together. Reading about lost mittens may just teach your child to keep them safe or maybe that mittens HAVE feelings too. There’s the book One Mitten (ages 4-8.) Missing Mittens (3+) A Mountain of Mittens (ages 4-8) The Ice Harbor Mittens, and Andrew’s Magnificent Mountain of Mittens.
Another idea to have at home is a Mitten Tree (or that’s what you’ll call it!) Buy a cheap coat stand and hang the mittens there, so they can dry, be in one spot, and leftovers can be used as crafts or those you plan to donate to a charity. Another idea is to buy a cheap shoe rack, or hanging shoe bag to keep mittens in one spot (Although, as mothers, we know that if we’re not on top of this, it probably won’t stick. But it’s worth a try!)
And, as for next year, check out www.mimitens.myshopify.com a Canadian company that makes children’s mittens, featuring long, stretchy cuffs that reach the elbow! This may make mittens harder to fall off, but not necessarily harder to lose. And, now is the time to look for deals on mittens. Winter, which is still apparently here, will be back next year. You might as well buy them on sale! Or buy a pair for a good cause like www.pinkmitten.com where $1 from every pair of the $10 mitten goes to funding breast cancer research. It makes losing mittens, a lot better, if you at least know you have contributed to a good cause.
