My son has started caching away food in various places around the apartment. I'm not sure why; but all the accumulated wisdom of the female elders (Mother-In-Law, Aunts, Dad's Wife, and so forth) assure me that this is normal behavior, especially for boys. They claim, in fact, that this is a "phase". At least this explains the disappearance of food from the refrigerator. I was about to call the GhostBusters.

A packet of hot dogs disappeared a few days ago. I searched, I thought, everywhere. Eventually, I shrugged, and hoped that Little Bug had eaten them all.

Last night, my son comes out of his bedroom holding the big rubbermaid toolbox that he keeps all his toy tools in. He comes up to me, crying, "Mommy, my toys are stinky."

In my heart, I know what I'm about to smell. I know where the hot dogs went to die.
The stench is unbelievable. So, being superMom, I load up the toys into the dishwasher, put it on "heavy pots and pans" cycle, dump in the detergent, and slam the washer door shut.
This morning, I empty the dishwasher. The tool toys are clean, and dry, and smell good. At ths point, I discover that some of his toys had batteries in them ...


Would you like to know how I found the missing pound and a half of purple grapes? And Where?


Wine any one?