Last night, I sent an email to my printer that I needed for a scout meeting tonight. The printer beeped loudly three times – it was out of paper. I wondered how that could be, since I filled the tray last week.
It didn’t take me long to find my first clue:
So, my older son is obsessed with maps right now. Well, that, and archaeology, and living creatures, math problems, and rocks…well, you get the idea. Even with the fifty-state map on the floor, I couldn’t see how this accounted for the entire tray of paper.
That piece of the puzzle snapped firmly into place. Conservation of resources obviously wasn’t in the forefront of his mind. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to check out what else he was up to. Yeah, I know…I’m kind of like the lady in the movies who searches for the strange noise rather than running far, far away. This is the point where I’m reaching out to open the closed door (with the tension-building music in the background) and you’re chanting, “Don’t do it! Don’t do it!” Followed by disgusted mutterings of, “idiot, you did it anyway…”
At first, I feared these guys were real, but upon further inspection, with the box lids on, of course, the realization came that they were imposters. It all makes sense when I think back a couple weeks, when he first asked me if he could get a lizard (no) or a snake (absolutely not.)
I’ve mentioned that I’ve come to expect the unexpected with him, but the pencil box reptile habitats still caught me off guard. The dishes of water, kibbles of cat food, seashells and rocks showed a solid attempt at creating a comfortable environment for the creatures. With all the surprises he offers me, there was one thing that did not faze me a bit:
If his desk is a window into his mind, then I’ve decided it’s a busy (scary) place. The tension-building music crescendos as I run away from the door screaming.
Yep, this mom can spot clues, but I’m learning that maybe some trails aren’t meant to be followed.
How about you – do you try to figure out life’s mysteries? Or do you leave clues undisturbed?
JannaTWrites 
Sometimes mysteries need to remain mysteries, or else there would be no mystery left, and then where would we be?
Life with no mystery would be boring, indeed, Widdershins 🙂
This made me laugh. Warning: there are just as scary things lurking behind the door when they become teenagers!
Thanks,SuziCate. You know I am SO looking forward to the teenage years (not so much…)
Too funny, Janna! I particularly liked the U.S. map with its states stapled together. Reminds me of some of the odd projects my son had to do for school. Glue and glitter should carry a warning forbidding their use by anyone other than a skilled artisan!
Glad you liked that, Debbie! If my son gets ahold of paper and tape (or staples or glue) he is sure to make a big creative mess. As for glitter, there is no way we’re going there 🙂
I decided against having kids because . . . I might have had a son . . . who thought . . . having a snake . . . as a pet . . . would be cool. 😎
To answer your question, it depends on the mystery and whether it is apt to recur.
Well, Nancy, as long as the snakes are plastic, everything is cool here 🙂
It makes sense to be selective about which mysteries to investigate. I often find with mysteries that I don’t realize until after the fact that I probably didn’t want to know. Hindsight is great!
I love that he is feeding real food to his plastic pets!
Mysteries…like nrhatch above, it depends.
I thought the food was funny, too, Momsomniac. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of mysteries to investigate (or not) with your kids!
It is only natural for mothers to be detectives. My mysteries are usually trying to find that lost sock. I would say I am about 50% successful at finding the sock-mate. No one else in the family is that obsessed about the lost the sock. I have a lost sock box. I also have about 6 single gloves probably all the same, the right hand glove, no left hand gloves. Ugh.
You’re not alone, Patty. The sock mystery is one that I can never solve. Our single socks mingle on top of the dryer until their match turns up. Or, until I get tired of looking at them and just throw them away 🙂
Depends on the mystery. Some I try to solve, some I lock the door and wait for hubby to get home. 😉
I vote for locking the door and waiting for hubby to take of it, Patti!
But what if there is no hubby to take care of it? Do you just ‘gird your loins’ (whatever that means) and as the ad says, Just Do It.
Just like anything, if no one else was around to take care of it, I’d have to do it. (For instance, I prefer that my husband take care of bug extermination/removal, but if he’s not home and there’s a scorpion in the house, I’ll kill it :))