Thinking Out Loud
Mystery Solved
March 22, 2015
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By: Diane Szczepanski
There is always a pleasure in unraveling a mystery, in catching at the gossamer clue which will guide to certainty.
Elizabeth Gaskell
There are many mysteries in life.
Some are small and trivial in the grand scope of things.
Why it rains after you wash your car. Who used the last of the ice cubes and didn't fill the tray. What does the dog find so interesting about a smelly skunk?
Some mysteries are bigger and more challenging to figure out. I have come upon one of these in recent years that has remained unsolvable.
My son's dad and I have joint custody. Which means he lives with me half the time. I live here my household all the time.
Despite this, my son has twice the clothes in the laundry. How can this be?
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Mathematics tell me there are seven days in a week, thus seven soiled shirts should be a sufficient amount of items produced by my teen. I will even factor in layering, change of temperatures requiring a change of shirt and the occasional special event.
In my mind, it still shouldn't go over twelve shirts. Thirteen, at most.
So, the fact that on a weekly basis there are a minimum of twenty-two shirts in the wash really stumps me. Especially since he is not here seven days a week.
Maybe he tries something on, decides against it and instead of hanging it back up, it gets thrown in the hamper.
Maybe there's another kid living in his room. I'm too afraid to go in there, so that's a distinct possibility.
But, I suspect it's something bigger than the both of us. Something so mysterious that it has skewed my counting in the number of shirts, jeans and socks I see each week.
Core Math.
I think I'm going with that theory.
And buying stock in Tide.
Diane Szczepanski
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Business-woman by day, confessed boot addict by night and 'wanna-be' writer, music lover and proud Mom of an awesome guitar playing, teen son.
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