Melinda Beth

The children often play for awhile after we put them to bed. We accept it as long as it doesn't get too unruly. Recently they have been playing dress up and will put on clothes from the girls' closet. Bradley has taken ownership of one of Emily's pink, flowered, button-up, Old Navy, collared, puffy-sleeved shirts. He wears it over his pajamas which I promise are masculine with either trucks, cars or Buzz Lightyear. I asked them why they like dressing up and Emily said, "We're pretending it's Bradley's birthday and we are going to a party where the boys wear girl jackets." Sometimes I wonder where kids get these imaginations!

Tonight I was doing laundry upstairs for about an hour after the kids were supposedly tucked in bed. On my way downstairs, their door was closed and the light was on. I opened the door, peeked in, and found only Wendy looking a little bored in her crib. It seemed unusually quiet and I was frightened to check the bathroom where I suspected they were getting into trouble. Three small children with access to water on a second floor, especially when your house is for sale, can be a dangerous thing. So I cautiously opened the door to find the very small bathroom filled with 8 large pillows and all three children quietly and busily scrubbing away with sponges and soap at the sink and toilet. Bradley was wearing his favorite cross-dressing shirt, Emily was wearing a Cinderella hooded sweatshirt, and Sarah was wearing a much-too-small infant bathing suit hooded coverup. I was puzzled at first why they would be cleaning at their own goodwill, but apparently, according to their responses, that is what you do when you go exploring and find sponges.