Problem Solved

We’ve had a few mishaps this week.  Lucky for me, I have resourceful children.  I mean really lucky for me--because my kids solved these problems much better than I would have. 

Monday began with a clogged toilet.  After four clogs and each flusher claiming to be innocent of any typical clogging behavior, Jackson asked if I thought the glow in the dark wristband that had accidently flipped off his wrist and into flushing toilet several days prior could be the problem.  “Um.  Yes.”  I was prepared to call the plumber, but Jackson informed me that he had read in Reader's Digest that 80% of all plumbing problems could be resolved without calling a plumber if people knew how.  So, we hung a sign on the toilet, and Jackson headed to Lowes to look for a more powerful plunger.  He came home with this. 

We all gathered around the bathroom door for what seemed to be the most excitement we’d had at our house in a long time, and Jackson went to work.  Turns out, Reader’s Digest was right. After several tries the clog was removed, and I’m happy to report that the toilet is now in good working order. 

Next, we discovered that one of the water barrels in our garage had sprung a leak and flooded part of the garage creating a moldy wet mess.  No problem.  The kids got busy moving wet boxes, mopping the floor, and figuring out how to siphon water from the barrel. There were some differences of opinion about how this job should be done, and I stayed out of it.   

What you can't see in this picture is that Jackson is receiving instruction from James via speaker phone.

Yuhua was the only one brave enough to create the suction to pull the water down the tube.

Last but not least, I got a frantic phone call on Saturday asking me to hurry home quick because a quart of stain had spilled all over our garage floor.    By the time I could get home, the mess was mostly cleaned up and the kids had managed to still stain the beds with the stain they wiped up from the floor. 

I’m not sure what I’m needed for around here.  Maybe I’ll take a vacation :  ) I think I'll also try to avoid photos of our garage in the future. There are a disproportionate number of photos of our messy garage on this blog.