diff --git a/app/app.py b/app/app.py
index faa02ad..f2ab38e 100644
--- a/app/app.py
+++ b/app/app.py
@@ -578,8 +578,12 @@ def sheet_append(rec):
         sheet.append_row(SHEET_HEADERS)
     elif len(vals[0]) == 7:
         sheet.update_cell(1, 8, "Comments")
+    # The submission time, not the time of the write. A replay months later must
+    # not relabel a lead as arriving today.
+    stamp = (rec.get("ts") or "")[:16].replace("T", " ") \
+        or datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")
     sheet.append_row([
-        datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M"),
+        stamp,
         rec["parent_name"], rec["email"], rec["phone"], rec["children"],
         rec["interested_in"], rec["source"], rec["message"],
     ])
@@ -653,6 +657,12 @@ def join_post(parent_name: str = Form(...), email: str = Form(...), phone: str =
             message=rec["message"], payload=rec, submitted_at=rec["ts"])
     except Exception as e:
         print("STORE WRITE FAILED for %s <%s>: %s" % (rec["parent_name"], rec["email"], e), flush=True)
+    # Register every mirror as pending BEFORE attempting it. If the process dies
+    # or a call never runs, the gap is visible and replayable instead of the row
+    # simply having no mirror record at all.
+    if record_id:
+        for _t in store.TARGETS:
+            store.set_mirror_pending(record_id, _t)
     sheet_error = None
     try:
         sheet_append(rec)
diff --git a/app/store.py b/app/store.py
index b59947c..5d8a0c2 100644
--- a/app/store.py
+++ b/app/store.py
@@ -148,6 +148,28 @@ def insert_lead(parent_name, email, phone=None, interested_in=None, children=Non
     return rid
 
 
+def set_mirror_pending(record_id, target):
+    """Register a mirror as owed, before it is attempted.
+
+    Without this a mirror that never ran leaves no row at all, which reads
+    identically to a mirror that was never owed. That is how two leads went
+    missing from the Sheet on 2026-08-26 with a clean `failed_mirrors: {}`.
+    Never downgrades an existing row - a mirror already ok or failed has been
+    attempted, and its outcome stands.
+    """
+    con = connect()
+    try:
+        con.execute(
+            "INSERT INTO mirrors (record_id, target, state, attempts, last_attempt_at)"
+            " VALUES (?,?,'pending',0,NULL)"
+            " ON CONFLICT(record_id, target) DO NOTHING",
+            (record_id, target),
+        )
+        con.commit()
+    finally:
+        con.close()
+
+
 def set_mirror(record_id, target, ok, error=None):
     """Record the outcome of an attempt to copy a row to an external target."""
     ts = _now()
@@ -241,17 +263,26 @@ def summary():
                 " ORDER BY c DESC")},
             "failed_mirrors": {r["target"]: r["c"] for r in con.execute(
                 "SELECT target, COUNT(*) c FROM mirrors WHERE state='failed' GROUP BY target")},
+            "pending_mirrors": {r["target"]: r["c"] for r in con.execute(
+                "SELECT target, COUNT(*) c FROM mirrors WHERE state='pending' GROUP BY target")},
         }
     finally:
         con.close()
 
 
 def failed_mirror_records(target, limit=50):
+    """Rows owing a copy to `target`: attempted and failed, or never attempted.
+
+    `pending` is included deliberately. A mirror that never ran needs replaying
+    just as much as one that ran and failed, and it is the case that hid two
+    leads on 2026-08-26.
+    """
     con = connect()
     try:
         return [_row(r) for r in con.execute(
             "SELECT l.* FROM join_leads l JOIN mirrors m ON m.record_id=l.id"
-            " WHERE m.target=? AND m.state='failed' ORDER BY l.submitted_at LIMIT ?",
+            " WHERE m.target=? AND m.state IN ('failed','pending')"
+            " ORDER BY l.submitted_at LIMIT ?",
             (target, limit))]
     finally:
         con.close()