It's been an odd day. I admit I'm a bit jumpy. I keep waiting for X-Man to flood something else. But he's keeping a low profile for the moment. Wise boy. But, it didn't matter because I lost Cinco today.


I walked into the kitchen, noticed that someone (Baby) had taken the breakfast dishes and placed them not where they belonged, but rather in the sink. So, I started loading the dishwasher. Then I figured it was time to check X-Man again. He wasn't in the kitchen and he wasn't pilfering the pantry. The bathroom door was still shut as was my bedroom door. He wasn't in the office. So I hurried upstairs. The girls were in their bedroom, as the sun poured in, studying. And there was X-Man, sitting with them reading a book. It was sweet. I checked with the girls as to what they were working on in school. I made sure that X-Man didn't have to use the potty. And then I realized, I had just assumed that Cinco
 would be with everyone else, as Mac had come out of his room to check in on us. She hadn't been anywhere that I had looked for X-Man. The bathroom door upstairs was closed as well and Mac confirmed she was not in his room. Well then, where the heck was she? I felt a bit of panic, having visions of her climbing into the cleansers under the sink, or choking on a purloined cracker. I rechecked everywhere, it is a small house after all. I rationally knew that she couldn't open the doors, but I still checked the backyard. She was gone.


I knew that CPS would take all the children away when she was found, crawling down the street, carrying cleaning supplies and choking on entirely inappropriate snacks. Meanwhile, I determined that she hadn't open the bathroom door and then locked herself in there. And I went to check my bedroom.

There she was. Asleep. In her bed. Where I had put her. Before walking into the kitchen and having load the breakfast dishes into the dishwasher.

I have completely lost it.