The Dilemma

Really, it's ridiculous. These items are
my personal property. I wear them. They
are indispensable in their basic utility.
Yet no matter how much time I set aside
to reasonably impress that simple fact on
him, he fails to acknowledge that these
things do not belong to him and his
constant assumption that he is free to
make off with them is becoming tiresome.
His sister is much more reasonable. She
never sneaks about to nose them out and
make off with them, just her brother does.
Of course, once he puts them proprietarily
in the toy chest she assumes, reasonably
enough, that they're fair game to play 
with. It's not as though he's deprived. He
was presented with very similar items to
regard as his personal possessions. He
seemed pleased and played with them at
first, but since placing them among his toys
he ignores them and continues to seek mine
out, relentlessly. When I rescue mine I can
hear his little feet padding purposefully
after me and I know the minute I leave them
where I can handily retrieve them when
needed, he'll reclaim them. They're my
socks, my gloves. He's incorrigible.