Suspicious.....

Once in a while, someone in my home does something just a little bizarre. They might have done something odd and don't know how to fix it, or something icky they don't know how to cover up. Then we have mysteries. And within our mysteries, we often have a single reporting passerby. It tends to be one particular bystander who notes the oddity that has occurred, and notes the oddity with surprise. Hmmmm. Here is an example.

About a year ago we were all at my parents house for the weekend. We had just arrived and were unpacking our stuff. Genea somehow enticed The Husband to the bathroom and I hear her say "Oh no look Daddy! How did that happen?" Genea has all the acting ability of a roommate on "Three's Company" and so right away my mommy-radar perked up. Quickly, I am summoned to the bathroom. Standing next to the toilet with her eyes bugging out of her head is Genea, and she is trying with all her will to look shocked and perplexed as to the situation. Which the situation is, there is a toothbrush floating around in the toilet. Haaaaa ha ha, I am laughing just writing this and remembering. She tried so very very hard to make us believe that the toothbrush just appeared in the potty and that either:
a. no one put it there or
b. it put its own self there
Either way, she had not a clue as she was simply being a good Samaritan and calling 911 on behalf of the toothbrush.

Well folks, I have no acting ability either. Despite spending at least one solid second trying to look stern and serious, I busted out laughing hysterically and told Genea to pluck that toothbrush back out of the toilet. I knew she had not thrown it in there on purpose (toothbrushes only go on the sink, that is where they go and not anywhere else, storing them in the toilet would be a change and we do not do change) but in there it was and it had to come out. We would throw it away of course and nobody was in trouble but it did need to be removed and we knew she had accidentally knocked it in there. BAH gaaaaaWWaaaaaaahhhh Wahh AAaaa commence meltdown and her Daddy was kind enough to reach in there and get it out for her, using various tools that did not involve his hands touching anything.

So this weekend when Genea appeared in the kitchen with me, out of nowhere to report that she smelled poop in her room, my mommy-radar again fired up. She had that same look of WOW HOW WEIRD to smell poop in my room! She had that same tone of HOW COULD THAT BE in her voice intended to convey her innocence, indeed her shock and horror. I mentioned that I personally thought it would be most odd for there to be a smell of poop in her room unless it were *ahem* temporary. No, no no, Mama, she insisted, you really better go smell for yourself.

Not interested in Genea's suggestion, I made a suggestion of my own. Genea, I said, why don't you go in your room and look around and see if you can figure out what is making the room smell like poop. Happy she was, to bounce off and go poop- smell- hunting and sure enough within minutes, the source was found!!!! I KNOW!!!! YOU HAVE to be AS SURPRISED as I was!!!! The GLAMOUR of parenting!!!

Sure enough, there were 2 tiny little turds on the floor of the girls bedroom. I inspected them.... briefly. Wondered for a second....never mind. Thought about trying to figure out.... oh to hell with it. Got a ball of paper towels and cleaned it up. Genea never looked so relieved in her life.

And me, well sometimes I think there is more benefit to leaving things go. Lying, manipulating, and hygienic nuclear fallout, these are not good things. But not everything has to lead to a confrontation, a lesson and a consequence. Sometimes I think it is better to just go with the flow and move on.