My teenager is driving me insane! | ADHD Information

OMG!!  Within a two week span, my 15 year old son has lost his keys, left his wallet at a movie theatre, and today he left his cell phone at a local restaurant -- at least 10 miles away.  I am so tired of the drama of looking for things, going back after things, not to mention replacing things!!  I get angry at myself for not remembering to mention to doublecheck things ... but, I can't remember everything!!  My house ALWAYS looks like a tornado went through it.  No matter how many times I ask him to pick up behind himself, there's always another trail. I love my son, but I'm really begining to get frustrated living in my "own" home.

My son is only 10, but I can relate to the trail of "stuff."  DH and I a joke in our house- there's a band called "And They Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead", so whenever DS walks through the room leaving a trail of whatever one of will say "and they will know him by the trail of "fill-in-the-blank."

It's extremely frustrating though.  I can only imagine how much worse it is when the stuff lost if vital to everyday life, like keys and wallets.  I think making him earn the lost items back would be fair, especially if he cannot find/retrieve the items on his own.

I can't remember which comic strip it was in this past Sunday's paper, but the frames showed the mother cleaning, then a spotless room, then she was framing a photo, and the last frame was the room full of kids (and trashed), her husband walking in the door and her pointing to the photo of a spotless room.
Isn't life fun with teenagers?  I have a 14 year old.  He is starting to remember stuff better, not much.  It is like teenage alzheimers.  Between the teenage stuff and the add stuff I am surprised he doesn't get lost crossing the street.  If my son forgets something like cell phone he doesn't get it back when I get it back.  He has to show me he can take care of it.  Threaten to buy a chain thingy that hooks onto his wallet and pants if he loses his wallet again.  And what is and what does a clean house look like?  I forget.This actually sounds a little like my husband. He frequently "misplaces" his cellphone, his keys, and sometimes even his wallet.
I wonder if it would help for your son to try to use some kind of memory device, like every time he leaves one place to go to another, think KWP (keys, wallet, phone) or if you can come up with something catchier, that would be better. Also, I think it is helpful to ALWAYS keep things in the same place, like always keep your phone in you left front pocket and clip your keys to your beltloop, and at home, always put these things in the same place. I think the key is to develop a habit, then remembering becomes easy. Having said that, I haven't had much success with my husband, and my daughter is pretty good and losing things too. My house looks like a tornado went through it too...