When Pamt mentioned her DS leaving his cellphone in his pocket, and it going through the wash...I have a similar story. Last summer, Shawn saved and saved his money for a Sony PSP (Playstation Portable). They are outreageously expensive. He paid $250.00! He is an electronics geek. Take him into Best Buy and he goes into a trance.LOL! He is also extremely "drifty". He is just like my DH. I always ask DH if he isn't *sure* that Shawn isn't his, biologically. Anyway, he had this thing ONE WEEK! He took it everywhere. He liked the fact that, if we went into a place that had WiFi, that he could log on. (He's now trying to convince me that he won't make it through college without a laptop, but that's another story!) Well, we went to the bank, and while I was inside, he decided to go outside to check his balance at the ATM. They would have done it at the teller window, but he likes pushing buttons. I concluded my banking, got in the car where he was already waiting, and drove off. We weren't 100 yards from the bank driveway, and he yells, "You have to go back!!" It seems that he remembered that he had put his PSP on the trunk of the car. Well, it couldn't have been more than 3 minutes since we were there, so I turned around, thinking the only worry we'd have is someone running over it. When we got back, however, it was nowhere to be seen. We searched the whole parking lot, the shrubery around it. We went inside, and no one had turned it in. They know us well in there, so they said if someone turned it in, they would call. We also drove straight to the police station, which is only a half mile down the road. We gave them our name and phone number in case someone turned it in there. We went back and looked again. The bank employees came out to try to help us. Shawn was sick!
The bank even looked at the surveillance camera to see if they could see someone picking it up. No luck. Out of camera range, I guess, or, it could have dropped off in the street.
The next day, we got a call from the police, saying that someone found it and would bring it in the next day. We went to the police station four days in a row, and no one brought it in. It was totally baffling.
We never heard another thing. Shawn had downloaded a beautiful picture of Jesus on it, as his screen saver. He said that he hoped that everytime the person looks at that picture, it makes them feel really guilty.
I don't know how anyone can keep something that doesn't belong to them. He was heartbroken, and it was a hard lesson in the fact that some people aren't very nice. DH was against letting him buy another one, because of his carelessness. It IS poor stewardship of money. However, I tend to take a softer line with the boys because they had such an awful life before they came to us, so I let him save up for another one.
Shawn has ADD and has trouble staying focused and on task. He is very poor with follow-through, like closing the cupboards, etc.. However, I do get exasperated with him because I am constantly following behind him, doing damage control. It makes for some arguments between DH and myself because he thinks that he should be more responsible, and he should. However, he is also always comparing them to our birth kids, who, for the most part, were very responsible.

The early years are crucial in the development of a child. Our birth kids were loved and wanted from conception. These poor little guys were shifted around and let down by adults. They were 13 1nd 14 when they came to us, so in four years, we've been trying to bring them up to speed, and they have improved tremendously. We were also very fortunate, in that we got kids that are innately (sp) good to begin with. Some of our friends (who have never adopted) were full of horror stories before they moved in with us.
I don't know if I was madder at Shawn, or the person who found it and kept it.

By Bellajoe on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 10:48 pm:

I would be upset with him too. He obviously didn't do it on purpose. I think we all have set something somewhere without really thinking about it. His was just a very expensive mistake.

I would be madder at the person who found it and kept it. It's probably another teenager who has been wanting a PSP. It would have been nice if his/her parents would haves noticed this expensive toy that their child all of a sudden had and made her/him return it to the bank or the police station.

By Hol on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 10:56 pm:

Patti - I agree. However, it could have been an adult driving the car, that picked it up. Isn't it sad, that nowadays, we are more surprised when someone does the honest thing, than when they don't.

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 10:07 pm:

I lost a wallet, when I started college. I must have set it down, by the payphone, when I made a phone call. I never saw it again, but had to get a new college ID, new driver's license, library card, etc. I don't think I had much money in it, but it's just the principle of the thing. Sheesh. It never happened again, though.