This week Marcel accompanied me as I cleaned out the van. It was no small task and I was glad he was occupied.
A few days later on a trip into town, I pushed the lever that adjusts the airflow to the back seats. It wouldn't move passed "Lo". Hmmmm. I thought this was odd, but our van is getting old...
A few miles down the road I noticed that the lever that adjusts the air intake had something shiny in it. Lo and behold, my Einstein-ian toddler had placed a nickel in the slot--replaying that game from his baby days of "put the object in the appropriate hole".
My dilemma is that this nickel was easy to remove. I am quite confident that the other lever has suffered a similar fate, however that slot is way too small to peer into. And, more perplexing to remedy.
In a related event, we woke up this morning to a house that was 59 degrees. It seemed to us that our rental's thermostat must have been broken. Nate put in a few calls to the landlord, but he could not be reached. After a number of desperate phone calls from a wife at home with four children in a 59 degree house to a husband at work (presumably climate controlled), Nate made a clever decision and came home for a bit to mitigate the damage (or at least quell a fuming wife). Armed with space heaters and frustration, he came home thinking we'd end up in a hotel for the night.
It was at this point in time that my chilvarous husband recalled a conversation he had with Kolbe over a harried dinner the evening before:
Kolbe: Dad?
Dad: Uh huh.
Kolbe: Jozef was clearing his "land" outside today.
Dad: Okay
Kolbe: He kept putting dirt down this pipe and I told him not to.
Dad: (at this point only partially listening) Okay.
End of conversation. Or so we thought. It seems Jozef had stuffed enough dirt and rocks down the vent pipe for the furnace that the furnace (thankfully) decided it was unsafe to run. Little did we know as we shivered though the night and early morning while Dad was at (climate-controlled) work. (Are you sensing any frustration on my part?)
In the end, Nate vacuumed out the pipe and magically (or not so) the furnace turned on! Horray! Now, a few Happy Meals later Mom and Dad are cool tempered and the house is warm. Imagine that.
These two stories illustrate two truths about children: 1) When they're quiet or busy, you'd better check on them or you may be sorry later, and 2) Since you can't follow them around everywhere, it might behoove you scour your house, car, yard, garage, et al to cover any holes or slots before they do.
And, when all else fails, pray for patience, then get some Happy Meals.
This weekend, we purchased Kolbe a Chinese Checkers game board. It also included the pieces for chess and checkers. Kolbe is always up for a challenge, and begged his Dad to teach him how to play chess. They went over the names of the pieces as well as how the pieces are moved though out the game. Nate tried to play a game with Kolbe, but as we both knew going into it, the game was a little over his head.
