I mean, really. You'll find things you had forgotten were even missing. Some even unidentifiable. If you have the right sense of humor, it's pretty amusing.
Today, while vacuuming, I decided to go pro and clean under the furniture, instead of going around it as I usually do (come on, when you have to vacuum almost daily, you can't tell me honestly that you move the furniture every time). The Boy followed me around excitedly, as he always does, since I inevitably find lost toys just out of reach of his chubby toddler arms. As he occupied himself with a McDonald's toy from who-knows-when, I quickly moved the ottoman to tackle the mess that I knew would be underneath.
Oh. My. God.
Veggie sticks. Blueberries. Cheerios. Bread crusts. Half-eaten chicken nuggets. It was almost as if someone was PURPOSELY storing food under there for later...
Just as the thought was crossing my mind, The Boy was crawling between my legs and making a mad grab at the discarded food. He had both fists locked tightly around various bits of nasty before I could stop him. I THINK I managed to get it all away from him... I hope...
I wish I could say that was the only time I'd ever found old food lying around.
A few days ago, The Boy and I got into a knock-down drag-out fight over a bowl of moldy raspberries he had apparently hidden somewhere on the bookshelf.
I do clean; I really do.
That wasn't the first time he'd hoarded food, either. Shortly after The Boy became mobilized, I caught him munching on a grilled cheese sandwich that he'd pulled out of the toy box. I don't make grilled cheese very often. Ew?
Honestly, most of what I find is harmless: a pretzel rod, a piece of a cracker, dry cereal, etc. And the places I find these things are fairly predictable: between couch cushions, under the recliner, and in front of the entertainment center. However, after being a mom for almost four years, I am occasionally still surprised (though at this point you'd think I wouldn't be).
Last week I picked up a new toy for The Boy: the Cookie Monster Come to Play Kitchen Cafe. It's a compact make-believe kitchen, complete with stove and oven, that came with plastic "food" to feed Elmo and Abby ($30 on clearance at Target; 3 stars for good price, having an on/off switch, fair construction, easy assembly, but being too small for more than one child at a time). It immediately became his favorite toy. I've gotten a lot more reading done since I put it together for him! The best part is that he's willing to clean it up himself by putting all the toy foods, pan, and spatula into the oven for storage. Sweet.
Until it wasn't.
This morning, while cleaning, I came across a few pieces of plastic food under the couch. As the boy was still occupied with his re-discovered Happy Meal toy, I took the foods to his play kitchen myself. When I opened the oven door to put them away, I almost threw up.
Food. REAL food. Based on the variety, I'd say he'd been saving bits of each of his meals since the day I gave him the kitchen. At some point, he'd even filled the sauce pan with something that probably used to be chocolate milk. I guess he decided that Elmo and Abby needed a more balanced diet. To be fair, the set came with mostly junk food: a slice of pizza, a cookie, an ice cream cone... Maybe I should be proud of him for trying to introduce them to healthier food options. After all, his favorite snacks are blueberries and bell peppers, and we have been encouraging him to share...
Let's go with that.
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