I can’t begin to tell you how much the kids enjoyed combing the beach for shells. Their daily bounty had to be sorted, (read “discarded”) otherwise we would have been forced to rent a U-Haul for the drive home. Towards the end of the week, I got lazy. I didn’t so much as take a look-see through Alex’s collection. It fit into a smallish sand castle mold, and that seemed reasonable. He even outfitted the top with a net, creating a breathable lid. When Brandon packed the van to leave, he put the shell collection near Alex’s feet. We weren’t two miles down the road before Alex announced the shells “smelled TERRIBLE,” and he couldn’t possibly be expected to ride near them. Fine. I moved them to our center console.
The night we got home, I was getting Alex ready for bed and noticed his dirty clothes were on the floor. I gave him some static for not putting them in his hamper, which is in his closet. He explained to me he couldn’t because his closet smelled like sea shells and then he gagged; seemingly for effect. I say seemingly, because when I opened his closet my reaction was the same. I explained it was just salt water and I would clean them for him. While I took the shells to the laundry room, Alex doused his closet with Lysol. I’m not sure which smell was worse.
I soaked the shells with a combination of bleach and laundry detergent. I told Alex we’d give them a day to soak. His response? “Let’s make it two.” I did, and this morning I decided to put the shells in a colander and rinse them. As I took them out to dry, I sorted through them once again. I tossed broken pieces that really didn’t resemble shells and prayed Alex and Meredith wouldn’t notice. I was nearly done when I came across the reason for the horrendous smell.
One of the shells was still occupied by some sort of sea creature. After two days of soaking in bleach, I wasn’t able to determine what type of animal made the trip home with us, but suffice it to say, it had a hygiene issue. I told Alex what I’d found and he asked what I did with it. I told him I tossed the shell and it’s tenant into the lot next door. He said, “O.K, but was it a good shell?!”
The night we got home, I was getting Alex ready for bed and noticed his dirty clothes were on the floor. I gave him some static for not putting them in his hamper, which is in his closet. He explained to me he couldn’t because his closet smelled like sea shells and then he gagged; seemingly for effect. I say seemingly, because when I opened his closet my reaction was the same. I explained it was just salt water and I would clean them for him. While I took the shells to the laundry room, Alex doused his closet with Lysol. I’m not sure which smell was worse.
I soaked the shells with a combination of bleach and laundry detergent. I told Alex we’d give them a day to soak. His response? “Let’s make it two.” I did, and this morning I decided to put the shells in a colander and rinse them. As I took them out to dry, I sorted through them once again. I tossed broken pieces that really didn’t resemble shells and prayed Alex and Meredith wouldn’t notice. I was nearly done when I came across the reason for the horrendous smell.
One of the shells was still occupied by some sort of sea creature. After two days of soaking in bleach, I wasn’t able to determine what type of animal made the trip home with us, but suffice it to say, it had a hygiene issue. I told Alex what I’d found and he asked what I did with it. I told him I tossed the shell and it’s tenant into the lot next door. He said, “O.K, but was it a good shell?!”
1 comment:
Hey Leslie...where have you been hiding? On vacation I see. I would love to have a vacation right now. I have been super busy. But that's great and what I wanted. Thanks for all the compliments.Keep in touch!!
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