The Season of Lost Gloves

Baby it's cold outside! And so we begin the yearly ritual of my kids losing gloves and me searching desperately for them so their teachers don't think I'm a negligent mother. Oh yes, also so their hands don't freeze at recess. Here's a typical conversation on a weekday morning at, say, 7:50 am.

ME: Leah, where are your new purple gloves? (Me sorting through a pile of winterwear)
LEAH: I don't know. (Continues reading her book)
ME: When did you have them last?
LEAH: What? (Turns the page)
ME: (Louder) When did you have them last?
LEAH: When I played in the snow on Saturday.
ME: (grumble, grumble, they're probably in a soaking heap somewhere)
LEAH: Or, I may have left them at school. They could be in the lost and found.
ME: (Remembering that the lost and found at school takes up nearly an entire hallway) Well, could you look for them?
LEAH: Where?

UGHHHH!

Then there's this 1st grader at school named Spencer who was sobbing last week at recess over a lost glove.

ME: Spencer, why are you crying?
SPENCER: 'Cause I lost my glove. ( sob, sob)
ME: Have you looked around the playground?
SPENCER: (Choking on his sobs) Yes, I've walked all over twice.
ME: It's OK. I bet it's in your backpack or class.
SPENCER: I bet it's not! My Mom told me I can't ever lose gloves or she'll really be mad at me!
ME: She won't be mad, Spencer. Gloves just get lost.
SPENCER: Yes, she will!!! ( Runs away from me)

If Spencer is any indication, I have failed as a mother to instill the value of gloves into my children. Maybe I need to be angrier about gloves, like Spencer's Mom. On the other hand, I don't want my kids crying and searching the playground all recess long for fear of what their mother will say.

Maybe I should just go out and buy 20 cheap pairs of gloves to replace the ones that get lost. But I can't imagine sorting through a bigger pile of gloves in the morning, searching for ones that match (again so my kid's teachers don't think I'm negligent).

How many more months of gloves are there?