Two Other Sons

Years ago I had a cupboard built over/around our washer. It is more than 3 feet deep and is nearly as high as the ceiling, so we use the top shelf in the back as long-term storage for stuff we don't often need to access.

Recently the moths have attacked again. About once a year we get an infestation of moths that perform miracles far greater than Houdini ever did -- they can infiltrate even air-tight tupperware containers and sometimes even new products still sealed in plastic. Tonight my wife decided it was time to root out the problem and decided to start on that top shelf to see if she could find any moth larvae. Rather than go look for a ladder she hit on the creative idea to make use of our youngest son (aka "the monkey") to help him climb up on the top shelf and get the stuff at the back, handing it down to her on the ground.

Since it was going to be a long climb she lifted him by his belt loops (commonly known as a wedgee -- of "Wedgee Tales" fame -- but much less painful to a 6-year-old than it would be to the adult male who was grimacing in sympathy behind the operation). About 3/4 of the way up to the top his knee struck a lower shelf and a large container of taco seasoning tipped over and started to fall to the floor.

You must understand that when you live in Albania WalMart and Sam's Club are both a long ways away and thus Taco Seasoning is a real treasure.

Melodye responded on reflex, reaching out in a beautifully executed move and catching the taco seasoning just as it passed the next shelf down. Any soccer goalkeeper would have been proud of those reflexes! The difficulty, of course, is that the same hand that caught the seasoning had been holding her 6-year-old son a fraction of a second before and now he was hanging somewhat precariously from a tenuous grip on an upper shelf ... about 6 feet off the ground.

In a shocked voice I (the aforementioned sympathetic male behind the operation) queried, "Did you just drop your youngest son to save some taco seasoning?!?"

To which she replied immediately and in a business-as-usual tone of voice, "I have 2 other sons, but I can't get more taco seasoning until the next time we go back to the states!"

You'll be glad to know "the monkey" lived up to his nick-name and was completely unphased by the incident, scampering up and then offering to sleep on the top shelf...

For the record, my 6-year-old son will no longer be 6 tomorrow. Happy almost-birthday, Jonathan!