Welp. That's it. Life's over.

How I imagine it goes down.
(Not a picture of our lost keys; I wish I had a bmw...)

My 18mo old daughter has reached the throw-things-away stage. Earlier this week, my husband and I had the realization that his keys weren't lost - that is, we knew exactly where they were... On their way to municipal Waste Management dumping station. Safely tucked into a Hefty cinch sak. 

We retraced our steps around the house, cleaned top and bottom, and suddenly looked at each other and said the same thing, "She must've thrown them away yesterday." I can still hear - in the very back of my memory - the "jinglejingleCLUNK" of the keys going into the garbage bin... I don't know why at the time it didn't set anything off. I guess I'm just used to noises and kerplunks and -unless accompanied by crying or calls of distress- I guess I've been programmed to ignore them...





Well.. I suppose this can no longer be the case. We gotta be on our guard all the time now. She's learning how her world works, and where things go. Shoes go on your feet, toys in the basket, cups in the sink, and -apparently- keys in the garbage. She's started to figure out the child-proof locks on the cleaning supplies cabinet, too. So that's great.

Please God never let this day come

I'm so happy to see her learning every day and putting thoughts and associations together, I just wish we could pick and choose the timing of certain aspects. But then again, where would funny parent stories be if that were the case? 
I once heard a story of a couple who couldn't find their keys anywhere, and then a few weeks after getting them all replaced, heard a slight metallic thud when the cat laid on the heating vent. Yep, they keys were in the vent. The child had figured out how to get the cover off and back on without the parents noticing.

My Maya and her cousin doing
some dishes for me

I guess I just needed to say that we've entered into a new chapter of parenting, and we need to mentally prepare ourselves for whatever shenanigans are to come. And then in February, we're (foolishly) adding a 2nd one. But, as every parent of multiple children has already, we'll get through it, and [try to] enjoy every minute of it!