Something Fishy

I have come to the conclusion that boys are very strange creatures.

You wouldn't catch a girl with pockets full of rubbish but boys . . .  well boys seem to collect stuff that, well to put it politely, belongs in the bin.

I am constantly emptying pockets full of bits of plastic, stones, metal items and other things that are dirty, sticky or liable to cause damage to my washing machine. Not just the three year old.  The fourteen year old is possibly even worse.

It is impossible to go for a walk without returning with at least one 'good stick' and pebbles of various sizes and I am always tidying up little piles of screwed up paper, unravelled paperclips, torn bits of foam or collections of items that are supposed to grow in the garden.

At bedtime I don't tuck my little one up with a nice teddy but with a variety of uncomfortable looking favourites such as airplanes, tractors, fire engines, trains and buses which he then cuddles as if they were his dearest friends.

And recently Nathaniel has taken to walking around clutching . . .  a tube of fish food!

He likes to follow his daddy around like a little shadow helping him with all the 'daddy chores' such as feeding Speedy the Tortoise, mowing the lawn, sweeping the leaves, cleaning the cars and of course feeding the fish.

For some reason Nathaniel has become very attached to the tube of fish food.  Personally I wasn't so sure it was either wise or sensible for him to have the fish food so while my husband was out at a concert I prised it out of Nat's little hands and I hid it on top of the fridge where I knew he couldn't reach it.  There were a few tears and tantrums from Nathaniel because I had parted him from his beloved item but thankfully I soon managed to distract him by bribing him with a chocolate biscuit.

However, as soon as David returned home Nathaniel came marching up to me with a self satisfied smirk on his face and the tube of fish food under his arm.

He has since walked around with the house for the past two days, occasionally taking off the lid and allowing a disgusting fishy smell to waft around the place.

I was a little worried that Nat might try and sneak the tube of fish food to pre-school in the treasure chest for show and tell - How would I explain that one? (Oh and I guess I should take the time to say thank you to Hannah for calling to appraise me about the Treasure Chest's intended purpose!)

Anyway this afternoon David kindly took my car to the garage to fill it with petrol - ah what a lovely husband.

Unfortunately, he not so kindly decided to take Nathaniel and precious fish food with him.

So the tube of fish food is now completely empty.

Yes somehow between leaving and returning home , the fish food has ended up being spread all over my car like confetti.

David thought it would be a good idea for Nat to be allowed to clean it up himself - great!

My little car now smells of eau de poisson!!  What joy!