A Most Ingenious Moment ~ That Wasn't Mine

You have probably never noticed that I don't mention Roommate's son very often. The reason is quite simple; I speak less than a handful of words to him each week. I mean, he is a 15 year old boy for crying out loud. He likes heavy metal music ~ the really heavy, dark stuff. He loves all things Beatles and Hippies, and though I enjoy a tad bit of that culture, I am by no means caught up in that movement. He spends his time on the internet or in his room listening to his music, and he is the bus-boy three nights a week at The Depot. He hates school, and his report card is witness to that fact. I have always thought that he was a pretty smart kid; he's just the kid that could care less about school stuff. Today I found out that I was totally right about him being a smart kid.

The living room, kitchen, and dining room at our house is basically one big open area. The ceiling is as tall as the house and opens the downstairs to the upstairs loft, which is the cozy home for the pool table. Trouble and Puss-n-boots enjoy spending time wrestling with each other up there. This morning I was fixing my coffee and I noticed that Trouble wasn't circling around my feet. She does this every morning because the very next thing I do after getting the coffee started is feed her. I could hear her whining, but didn't see her. I walked away to get something and the whining got louder. I was half expecting to trip over her, but I still didn't see her anywhere. Finally, I realized that the sound was coming from above my head. I looked up to find her on top of the kitchen cabinets.

Apparently, the little rascal had climbed onto the top of the cabinets from the loft. That was cute enough, but she couldn't figure out how to get down. I was thinking of climbing on the counter to reach for her, but let's face it - considering how clumsy I am, that wouldn't be the best idea. So I did what I do best: I delegated the authority. I yelled at Step-son to come and get her down. Now I was totally expecting him to climb right up there and get her down, then be on his way. Instead, he starting piddling around looking for something. I was about to get a little frustrated until I realized what he was looking for. He got the laser pointer (a friend of mine used to shine it on the floor for her dog; she called it the "red bug"). He shined the light along the wall and up towards the loft. Sure enough... Trouble chased it all the way until she was safely back on the loft. Not only was it a most interesting way to get the little varmint off the cabinet, but it also taught her how to get herself out of that situation on her on the next time. Of all the ingenious ideas... and coming from the kid who just recently discovered that you can actually order just fries at McDonald's.