Crumbs in My Silverware Drawer

Periodically, I have to empty out the plastic tray that organizes my silverware and clean the thing.

Lest you think that I am a freaky neat-freak with a spotless house, let me assure you by tilting my head back and laughing loud and long:

Ahhhhhh-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

I'm not talking about shiny-ing it all up. I'm talking about dumping actual crumbs out of it and then wiping it all down.

Crumbs!

And I can't help but wonder, how do they get in there?

The silverware is lifted, all gleaming and shiny, from the dishwasher, and put directly into the silverware drawer.

It is not first thrown outside.
It is not placed in a bag of grit and gravel and shaken about like chicken in a Shake-n-Bake baggie.
It is not placed in the bottom of the bird cage or in the cat's litter box.

Do the crumbs come from the hands of my children, who are the ones emptying the dishwasher?

Though my Mom-Grooming-Oversight-Skills are not what they once were, I'd like to think that my children are not so dirty that stuff literally
drops off their hands.

Guess I'll just file it under the category of one of life's mysteries, along with the more cliched ones like why you can put 14 socks in the washer and only 11 come out of the dryer.
Or like how there can be seemingly dozens of plates and cups sitting about and yet when you ask people (meaning the kids) to pick their stuff up, all you get it, "It's not mine" shouted out in unison.

But as I look about my house, I realize there are crumbs in all the nooks and crannies of my home, not just in the silverware drawer.

I don't mean the 'particle of dried up food' crumb (though they are represented in large numbers as well).
I mean tangible remnants of life with six kids in a big house with a Mom too frazzled to manage things.

A few of the crumbs visible to me right now.....

Broken Silly Band
Scrap of paper from airplane-making
Tiny plastic bottle of bubbles from a birthday party goodie-bag
Stretched out fuschia ponytail
Broken crayon too small to be of further use
Jack of clubs
A wilted pink carnation

I guess if I, gun-to-my-head HAD to put a positive spin on things, I could say that these crumbs are reminders of who my kids are....

They are into semi-adorable pre-teen fads
They can spend time doing creative stuff when they're not glued to a screen
They enjoy birthday parties as much as the next young person and can still be captivated by the magic of bubbles
They fix each other's hair in braids and ponytails and cute little up-do's
They still like to color
They can entertain themselves with a good old-fashioned deck of cards
They gave and received Valentine's carnations at school from friends and crushes

So I've managed to put a positive spin on the Stuff Crumbs, but for the crumbs in my silverware drawer?

I've got nothin'.



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