Back to ‘things’ again I guess. I wanted to share with you a mystery that had been plaguing our house for the last few weeks…

The first time we noticed this was a little less than a month ago. Bas, who still needs a little assistance at times in the bathroom, called out to me. As I was helping him, I noticed a long white pasty-looking strip running up the back of his thigh. I asked him what it was and, of course, got no reply. Bas just looked at the stripe, looked at me and smiled. I tried wiping the white stuff off and found it had the consistency of anti-perspirent deodorant – it smelled like it, too. You know, like men’s Axe or Speed Stick, a manly kind of scent.

Anyway, we were in the hall bath and don’t keep any sort of toiletries in there, so whatever it was he got it somewhere else. Well, Bas doesn’t wear deodorant and even more odd was that J doesn’t wear anti-perspirent. So we were at a loss. We thought on it and remembered that J’s good friend, Chris, had been over earlier that morning to run with J, and had changed in that bathroom. Maybe he had gotten deodorant on the toilet seat or something? I know, I know, but we couldn’t come up with anything better!

And Then…

About a week later – Bas, once again calling me from the bathroom – I go to help him and find the same white stuff on the back of his leg.

“Basi, what the heck?!” I ask him.

Again, no answer. Instead of just a smile this time, I get a slight giggle.

*For those of you just joining my blog, Bas is my gorgeous 9  going on 10 year-old  (yikes!)  and is for the most part, non-verbal (but he’s working on it and doing great)!

So, once again, I clean the deodorant-like stripe off the back of his leg. J and I spitball some ideas back and forth, and speculate for a time but to no avail. No one in our house has men’s deodorant or anything that looks or smells remotely like it… No One!

This Is Too Weird…

However, things return to normal as they are wont to do. The pasty white residue a thing of the past. Mystery still unsolved, but it has taken a backseat to life and is basically forgotten. And then, lo and behold, this past Thursday – Bas needing help – I find the mysterious white substance on his leg and in his hair! This is too weird – not the whole deodorant stuff in the hair part; Bas wipes everything in his hair because he doesn’t like to get anything on his hands or use napkins – Anyway, too weird because the white substance is back!

Okay, we cannot figure this out. As a last resort, and because we have absolutely no clue, we think he has to be getting it on himself at school. So, when J and I pick Bas up from school on Friday, I tell his head of school, who is beyond awesome, and a new staff member about the deodorant-like substance incidences. There are older boys at Basi’s school, maybe they left a stick of deodorant out? They look at me like I’m as far in left field as I feel for bringing it up!

“We’ll check it out,” they promise, just as flummoxed as I am.

The reason they look at me a bit strange is the same reason I feel a bit cheesy bringing it up: Basi’s school has a student teacher ratio of 1:1, and they very diligently monitor the kids and the environment. So deodorant being left out is pretty much not gonna’ happen. However, I’m at a loss and I don’t know who else to ask.

Until…

Late Friday night, mere hours after I speak to the folks at Basi’s school, I tell him it’s time for bed. So, he goes to the bathroom as I am putting some laundry away. After a few minutes, Bas is still in the bathroom, so I go to the door to check on him. I knock and walk in and his back is to me. His pants are up and he is most definitely not using the bathroom. He slowly turns and looks at me, like… “Uh-oh”

*Now, I have to interject here that this behavior is sooo not Bas. He never does anything to get in trouble – like ever. But he has that look like: She got me!

So, I walk over to the toilet thinking, good lord, what’s going to be in there?!! I look at Bas one more time and the look of the ‘jig’ being up has now turned into a smile with a shoulder-shaking, silent giggle. I even start to smile  and I have no idea why until I look down…

There, in the toilet, is a… Lysol toilet freshener? What the…? You know, a toilet bowl freshener. The kind you hang over the rim to keep everything nice and fresh. I caught Bas as he was getting ready to flush it – The THIRD one in THREE weeks! Do the math folks – yes – my angel who never does anything wrong was taking these things out of the toilets one by one and flushing them! I know, because I went to the other 3 toilets and there were no fresheners to be found. And the mystery white substance? It was the residue from the fresheners – I know because I wiped it on my hands. He got it on his hands and had been wiping it on his leg. Then, most recently, in his hair! And guess what folks – it looks and smells just like men’s deodorant!!!

So now, not only is the mystery white residue matter solved, but also the slow flushing toilets in THREE different bathrooms! Oh, did I forget to mention that part to you?

Seriously, Bas?!!

Sorry guys, nothing profound today. I just felt like laughing and hoped you’d join me!