Long time, no toothbrush

Yes, I know it's been a while. Six months since a last post isn't exactly regular maintenance, but we've had a lot going on here. To give you a better picture of what keeps us occupied, let me tell you about the latest plumbing fiasco.

Recently, I went to ensure my children had brushed their teeth at bedtime. There was only one toothbrush in the cup, my son's, and it was damp from use.

"Chicken Little," I addressed my daughter, "Where is your toothbrush?"
"I haven't had one for three days," she said.
"What have you been using to brush your teeth then?"
"I used Tiny's."
"GROSS!" I cried.

Then I thought a minute and called my son into the room. "Tiny, what did you do with your sister's toothbrush?"
"Well, you know how it is when you are sitting on the toilet, and I like to suck on my toothbrush," he started.
"No, no I don't know how it is. I don't think about sucking on toothbrushes while I use the toilet."
"Well," he continued, "I reached for mine and grabbed the wrong one and sucked on it anyway, and then I accidentally dropped it into the toilet and flushed it." Riiggght.

Thanks to the plumbing snake, which sees more use than I like to admit, we retrieved the wayward toothbrush and my son went to bed without book time and tucking-in snuggles. And he still owes us a store bought toothbrush to make up for the deed. While  I would like to think that this is his last flushing prank, I know otherwise. My toilets have so far seen blocks of soap, a herd of Littlest Pet Shop creatures, three other toothbrushes, and some markers (and these are just the things I know about). Most of these were part of a strange annual flushing ritual.

One day, there will be an excavation and everything I ever wondered about that went missing will be found in the sewer. I'll ask my son about it, and he'll start with "Well, you know how it is...."