While doing the late-night dishes, I discovered a pair of neatly-stacked clementines in our cookie sheet cabinet. It was enough to make me want to run upstairs and wake my sleeping son. I wanted to pick him up, squeeze him tight, blow raspberries on his chubby cheeks and exclaim, “You are the best boy in the world!!!”
What gave him the idea that these two citrus orbs from our dining room fruit bowl would fit perfectly in this narrow kitchen cabinet? And when did he do it? While I was reloading the toilet paper roll for my daughter? While I was looking up an old CAD file on my computer?
My husband and I have different reactions to finding the treasures our children have stashed around the house. Where I swoon in delight, he groans in exasperation. I reach for the camera, and he reaches for the sponge. We both act from experience. For me, these discoveries are the treasure chests of motherhood. Little windows into our children’s innovative and joyous spirits. For my husband, such findings warn of other soon-to-be rotting perishables lurking in the vicinity. (While I was sighing and snapping away, Joe reached behind the cookie sheets and found another three clementines, waiting to sag and mold undetected until…the smell).
Instead of waking my darling, I decided to admire him a little longer than usual as I checked on him before going to bed. Joe did, too. After frisking the covers for more produce.
Lucky boy child to have a parent responding on each end of the spectrum of clementine surprises – so all bases covered for the poetry of the late night surprises AND for the practicalities of search and destroy missions for inadvertent compost heap locations.
Maybe sweet son’s thought process went something like: “hmmm – two small, brightly colored balls/clementines – easily reached/retrievable, cabinet w/tiny door – perfect place to just fit”. Spatial comprehension wheels twirling at full tilt.
Oh my gosh, how charming that these are the precious items he decided to squirrel away!
I love these little windows into their minds–so neat.
Random unrelated funny kid thing: Yesterday D was mad at me. I said, “We had a misunderstanding.” He said, “It wasn’t a misunderstanding, it was a your-fault-understanding!”
I love how those clementines fill that space in a different way.