The elusive green sweater in action last year …My youngest is always losing things. He carries a toy around, drops it to do something else, and then doesn’t have a clue where he left it. That’s about right for a 4-year-old, but why is that true of me now too? I used to be able to remember everything. Dates, times, appointments, promises, names, bank balances, purchases … you name it and I could probably remember it. Well, except birthdays, I’ve always sucked at remembering birthdays. But now? I can’t seem to remember much of anything.

It feels like my ability to hang onto thoughts (let alone things) is stretched out like the elastic on that old bathing suit you kept-because-you-thought-you’d-fit-into-it-again, and that I might as well give up. My memory is too stretchy, and not nearly as precise as it used to be. What gives? I forget where my cell phone is, I lose library books, I forget to run the dryer a second time and end up with musty clothes that have to be rewashed. I lose clothes, or think I’ve lost them because I gave them to Goodwill last month and then forget that I’ve done so, so I frantically tear the house apart in search of that hooded green wool sweater as nothing else will do for my run the next morning. Until dear husband reminds me that I chucked it, and I don’t really believe him but I kinda have to because there is no other explanation, and a tiny piece of me suspects he’s remembering the truth and I’m not. (And I get a bit angry because I’ve forgotten.) I think you get the idea …

I blame it on mothering, and having to remember things for my kids, and sometimes husband, as well as all my own stuff. I’m not sure that’s entirely fair, but it’s all I can come up with. It just won’t all fit. That and rotting brain cells from getting older. Any other directions to point my finger in? Chronic lack of sleep perhaps? I’m at a loss.

What’s the last thing you lost or forgot? Is your memory just as snappy as it always was, or has there been a shift? Help me out here …