We had plans for Saturday, big ones. Adrian was going to take Nicholas to Home Depot, get hot dogs from the vendor outside, and then do some work around the house. I was going to take Travis to Target and Trader Joe's. Some one-on-one bonding time. Love it.
I was upstairs taking a shower and getting ready. Adrian was down in the family room watching grown up TV. This left the boys without close supervision. This is their house too and everything is safe and kid friendly. What harm could there be?
I heard a few noisy runs up the stairs, not unusual. They often "urgently need" a toy from their playroom or Nicholas is in a super hurry to get to the bathroom.
I came downstairs to see if Travis was almost ready to go. Travis had a small bottle of baby powder upside down in his gumball machine toy. And the big bottle of baby powder in his hand. I couldn't even take it all in. There was a powdery fog clouding my view.
I sent them downstairs straight away. They were disrobed and put it in their chairs.
Carpet, upholstery, curtains, window sills, all tables and chairs, TV, and select picture frames were coated. Some areas just had a light dusting while other spots got extra helpings. I am not sure why only certain pictures were dumped on. Toys were not spared either. For the most part I think he used the "hold the bottle and shake it up and down violently" technique.
Nicholas witnessed and indirectly participated, and failed to report the crime to authorities. He learned what it means to be an accessory to a crime. Your punishment can be equal to the one who committed the crime. His trip to Home Depot was canceled. Watching his TV shows was revoked for the day. And favorite toys of theirs were put away and will have to be earned back (legos, Bakugan, play doh for example). The living room has been upgraded to TV viewing only. Toys have been evicted.
I spent a good hour or more vacuuming, wiping down, dusting, and windexing. And then I went to Starbucks and Target all by myself. Later that afternoon Adrian went to Home Depot all by himself.
They will never hear the end of the great powder incident of 2009.
1 comment:
Oh, wow! Nicholas could be considered guilty of "misprision" (failure to report a crime: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misprision_of_felony). We have a friend who was actually charged with that after his boss didn't submit appropriate applications to the right people (federal contracts), even though our friend had given his boss the necessary info. $200K in legal fees later, he gave up and pled guilty to avoid another $300K to defend himself, and got 6 months of house arrest (and a permanent felony conviction -- US justice isn't always as lenient as English common law). So Nick could count himself lucky!
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