Knowing how keen the Boy is on sport I don't think it a ruse.
Phone the skool and they will say:
"Was his name in everything?"
and you will say "Yes of course"
and they will say "He must learn to look after his stuff, this isn't like Junior Skool"
and you will say "I know"
and they will say "Tell him to look in 'Lost Property' in the morning"
and you will think "Why tell us to put his name in everything and then not be prepared to fvcking look for it?" but you bite your tongue and say "OK"
and then tomorrow he will forget to look for it
and the following day he will have PE again and throw a wobbly because he doesn't have his kit so one of you will go to the school and hunt down the lost property bin/cupboard
and you will not find his kit
and you will speak to a member of staff who will be indifferent because you will be the tenth this week.
Eventually you will buy him new kit and he will repeat the performance regularly for two years at a rate of at least twice a term. You will one day engage a cleaner in conversation and she will tell you that they (the cleaners) pick up all the lost, stolen and strayed kit and put it somewhere other than in Lost Property that not even the Headteacher knows about and she will lead you there and you will find a whole heap of kit belonging to The Boy and many other boys. None of it will fit him any more so you do what everyone else does. You'll accept the cleaners advice and take a set of kit that looks as if it might fit The Boy and that isn't infested with lice. You will rip out all the name tapes of sundry other boys and sew in your own Boy's name tags.
At least that is what we have spent the last 12 years doing for everyone of ours!
