The Case of the Missing Garbage Can

CHAPTER ONE

Thursday started like any other day, except it started 15 minutes later than normal as I overslept. This normally would not have been an issue, but Thursday is Garbage Pickup Day, and the garbage truck arrives in our circle before 8 am. After quickly getting dressed I rushed out to move our green garbage can to the curb, but alas...it was too late. The large garbage truck had completed its work in our circle and moved onto the next side street.

CHAPTER TWO

Chapter Two continues as I realize there is no way I want to try and collect another week's worth of garbage into our already full green trash receptacle. I then decide to make my move. I begin running with the garbage can behind me, the can rolling on its two large wheels. I made the turn out of the circle and see that the truck has only completed one side of the street. I decide to place my garbage can next to a neighbors yet-to-be-emptied can. The plan seemed flawless. Leave the can here and pick it up later.

CHAPTER THREE

Three chapters for a simple story about how you lost your garbage can? Yes.

The plan seemed to go smoothly until it was time to retrieve our garbage can. The problem? It was missing. I know what you are thinking, Who steals a garbage can? I don't know. We knocked on the door of the home our garbage can had taken up residence at in our time of need, but they were not home. Calls to other neighbors also revealed no eye witnesses. Our garbage can must have felt all alone as they day turned to night and we could not find it.

CHAPTER FOUR

Your kidding right? Just get to the end of your story.

Don't worry, there is a happy ending to this story. Alisa bravely ventured into the cold in search again for our missing garbage can. (We did contemplate making posters to place on telephone polls, yet underground fiber optic cables have really eliminated this option. There are no telephone polls anymore.)

Finally, Alisa was successful in finding the lost can. A family down the street had accidentally placed their recycling bin out instead of their trash bin. At the end of the day they simply grabbed an available garbage can and took it into the warmth of their garage. Alisa knocked on the door and asked if they by any chance had a second garbage can? They looked, they did, they gladly returned the can.

EPILOGUE

The can was quickly returned to the safety of our garage,...and then promptly filled with a day's worth of Mckay's diapers. Ahh, it's good to be home.

Hi Ho Cherry-O

The Game: Hi Ho Cherry-O

The Competition: Cassidy

The Outcome: Not surprising

Cassidy and I have recently been playing quite a bit of Hi Ho Cherry-O. For those of you who may be unaware of this game, I will attempt to explain. There is a dial in the center of the board. On your turn, you spin the dial and depending on where it lands, you are able to remove cherries from your bucket and place them in your tree. The game is won when your tree is full of cherries. There are however, several spaces that require you to remove cherries from your tree and place them back in your bucket.

As Cassidy and I have been playing there are occasions when it can be difficult to determine where the spinning dial has ultimately come to rest and therefore we determine that if it is on the line that you can have a re-spin. Cassidy has caught on quickly.

Anytime Cassidy spins the dial and it ends up on a space that requires her to remove cherries from her tree, she quickly states, "Oh, it is on the line," and spins again. I don't think I will ever be able to defeat Cassidy and her ability to dominate at Hi Ho Cherry-O. It has however lead me to think about when we are in situations that we are not comfortable with.

I am not advocating bending the rules to win, but I do think there are times in life when we find ourselves in a situation we are not comfortable being in. It is in these times that we must recognize that we are on the line and chose to take another turn.

PEZ for Breakfast

It doesn't happen often, but there are several times a year when Alisa's work requires her to be somewhere at the crack of dawn. This gives me the opportunity to be the one to get the kids up, dressed, fed, and out the door to preschool. This morning was one of these opportunities.

Cassidy's hair was in need of some work, but as she boldly told me, "Dad, don't brush my hair. I will do it and make it look beautiful." She did it alright, and I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. My goal was to have the kids out the door at 8:15, but as 8:15 rolled around and no one had shoes or jackets on yet, I knew it was time to improvise on breakfast.

"Lets make a deal," I announced. "Anyone who can hurry and get their shoes and a jacket on can have a treat for breakfast." They cheered, rushed to finish getting dressed, and then I caved and gave my children PEZ candy for breakfast. I know, I am such a good parent. I am sure Alisa would not have approved, but at least they made it to school on time.

SHOES

It seems my children's growing feet are ready for new shoes faster than I need a new haircut. Currently Mckay's shoe of choice is a tan pair of Crocs. These shoes go everywhere with him, including church. At great expense his parents have purchased him nice Sunday shoes, as well as comfortable tennis shoes, but even in the winter weather, his Crocs are the favorite. Like his sister, Mckay likes to put his shoes on all by himself. And like his sister, they usually end up on the wrong foot. This continues to amaze me.

I am not one for mathematics or statistics, however even in my limited mathematics understanding, I know that when my son or daughter picks up a shoe, there are only two possibilities-Right Foot, or Left Foot. This would lead me to believe that each time one of my children picks up a shoe they have a 50-50 percent chance of getting it right. Averaged over weeks and months, they should be getting it right about half of the time, yet they are not.

I don't think my children are merely less intelligent than the average child, but in speaking with other parents with young children, this is a statistical epidemic that has plagued the lives of young children everywhere. If Las Vegas had a game where gamblers had to place bets on whether the child would get the left shoe on the left foot, I think the House would always win.


I have drawn some conclusions with my own children, only to have them proved wrong. One for example: Mckay gets it wrong because he always picks up a shoe and places it on his right foot first. He must, therefore, always pick up the left shoe first? Wrong. I have even placed both shoes in front of him with the appropriate shoe in front of each foot. He will reach down and pick up the right shoe and place it on his left foot.


His sister is no different. I have even gone so far to purchase shoes for her where the top strap attaches opposite the arch of her foot. I would then remind her. "When your feet are together, the strap goes on the outside edge, and not the inside edge." Result? No change. My ultimate conclusion-It doesn't matter the type of shoe, or the age of the child, putting shoes on the correct foot will always defy statistical probability. I guess I will live with it.