my child...

...is a stasher.

I know. It's hard to swallow. But the first step to fixing something is acknowledging there is a problem. It began with cell phones and remotes in the couch cushions, hot dogs in his pockets, and sippy cups in the bathtub. It escalated rather quickly to social security cards and non-farm objects in the silo of his barn.

But most recently, the worst has happened; 

 he stashed our digital camera in the dirty clothes basket. 

I dumped the load of dirty clothes straight from the basket to the washer, as I always do, and began the load. I went about my business for the next 45 minutes and returned to the washer to make the transport. Upon transporting, I noticed a hard "clink" when I pulled out a sweatshirt. I looked in and I saw it. Just, sitting there. All I could say was a choice 4-letter word. And call Sean:

"Sean, I found the camera."

"Good! I knew it would turn up--and you thought he threw it in the garbage."

(did I forget to mention Oliver threw my wallet in the trash a month ago, never to be found again?)

"Well, you're right about that. He threw it in the dirty clothes."

"Good thing you found it before you put them in."

"Uh...yeah. I found it as I was switching loads."

"[insert choice 4-letter word]. We'll talk about it when I get home."

You want to know the worst part? There were 2 smudges on the back screen I tried everything to get off, all to no avail. The smudges are finally gone.