We Interrupt Your Morning Ritual to Explain the Odd Noises You Heard Down the Hall
RRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPP! Tee hee hee!
RRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPP! Tee hee hee HEE!
RRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP! Hahahahaha! Tee hee hee! Hahahaha! TEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEEEEE!
These were the sounds I heard drifting down the hallway as I made my bed this morning. At first, the sounds didn’t even really register with my early morning brain. Slowly, my thoughts came together to let me know that something was up. Those sounds were a wee bit suspicious. So I headed out to the living room to investigate. As I passed the boys’ room, I saw Gideon was still blissfully asleep under his covers, but Ethan’s bed was empty. A quick peek into Aurora’s room told me that she was also awake. The ripping noises and laughter continued, now followed by a tiny little voice saying, "Dis darbage, dis darbage," and fast little footsteps running back and forth across the floor, the lid on the garbage can opening and shutting with alarming regularity. That’s when I saw it.
When I say goodbye to my husband in the morning, I bring in the paper, take off plastic baggy and throw it out (it rains so much here that the paper is always in a plastic baggy), and set the paper aside on the couch for me to read after I get the kids eating breakfast. Okay, I admit that mostly I skim the front pages of the main sections before finding the entertainment section and diving into the celebrity gossip, advice columns, comics, and, most importantly, the crossword puzzle. But if something I see on one of the front pages that interests me, I do actually turn a page or two and read the whole story. But still, this is part of my regular morning routine, otherwise known as "The Routine That Must Not Be Broken". Especially the crossword puzzle. I love me some crossword puzzles!
So imagine my horror when I discovered nearly the entire days newspaper torn to shreds on my living room floor and two angelic faces amongst the wreckage innocently tearing it to little bits and laughing like it was the funniest thing they’d seen in years. When the pieces would get too small, Aurora would run around the room, pick up big handfuls of what appeared to be paper mache supplies, and then throw them in the garbage.
My already full garbage can was now overflowing with bits of newspaper as her tiny toddler hands tried to stuff more in. She was still cheerfully saying, "Dis darbage, dis darbage," with each handful as she tried to push it in, only to have it spill onto the kitchen floor as she shut the lid, before running back into the living room to watch her brother recommence with his hilarious paper shredding antics.
But even I, the self-proclaimed Morning Grumpus, had to admit that anything that makes this little girl roar with laughter is worth doing, even if it does make my brain convulse and my left eye twitch as I contemplate a change to "The Routine That Must Not Be Broken". And Ethan certainly agreed. So despite the fact that most of my morning was already in the garbage (literally), I grabbed my camera to document the evidence take a few pictures, and then searched through the wreckage for survivors. And so, between Aurora’s winning smile and the miraculous discovery that my preshhhussssss entertainment section was still in one piece (that’s the section she kept sitting on), the morning went well anyway. And I was even able to almost totally complete today’s crossword puzzle!
