Case of the Missing Spoons

I have a problem. It's lasted for years and isn't improving. My spoons disappear. Do your spoons ever go missing? It used to be a regular occurrence in our house. It doesn't happen as often now that the kids are grown but I still find them in random places. There are always more forks and knives in the drawer. Are they harder to lose? Are spoons directionally challenged in that they can't find their way home? Why do they get lost in the first place?

Photo by S. Williams

Sometimes I would find them tucked in the cushions or underneath the couch. Other times, they were in a bathroom drawer. I've found them in the car under the seats or in a random bowl on the floor. In lunchboxes and kid's closets. Outside in planters and the garden. Multiple trash cans. Laundry baskets with dirty clothes. And, to clarify, we ate most of our meals at the kitchen table.

Do the spoons have wanderlust? Do they go exploring when no one is home during the day or when we are asleep at night? If I turned on a light, would they scurry into hiding like shiny mice? Do they stow away in the car hoping to see the world? Are they running off to join a spoon band or the circus? I know it's not like the vintage nursery rhyme where the "dish ran away with the spoon" because I'm not missing any dishes. It's quite the puzzling situation.

If I were a spoon, I might run away with this dish, too! Yum. Photo by Hanxiao Xu on Unsplash.

When I unload the dishwasher, there are always more forks and knives than spoons. It feels like they join forces and gang up on their unsuspecting silver cousins to make them disappear. This lifelong conundrum needs a solution. Do I need to start a spoon fund to add to my sadly diminishing collection? I'm tired of washing the few spoons I have, although it's really only an issue when we have guests over for meals. Do you have any advice? How do you keep your spoons home?

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