The Light Bulb Incident

Once upon a time, Joe II was supposed to be taking a nap.  His mother, being a tired person and prone to falling asleep herself, read him a story and then told him to lay down and go to sleep without laying down with him.  After some hollaring, Joe II did in fact quiet down and when his mother checked on him, he was asleep.

That evening, when Joe II’s mommy put him to bed for the evening, she reached to turn on the light beside the bed.  It was a  five bulb lamp with open shades and adjustable necks which could be pulled down, one might believe, if a toddler were to stand on the bed and reach up on his tippy toes.  She clicked the switch–nothing happened. She checked to see if it was plugged in and it was.  She clicked it again, still nothing. Looking inside the lamp shades, she noticed that ALL OF THE BULBS WERE GONE.  Well, Joe II’s mother thought this was very odd and attributed it to Joe II’s father. But then she noticed something odd–Joe II was grinning a knowing grin.

“Joe II,” she said, “Do you know where the bulbs are?”

“Oh, the bubs?” Joe II said. “These bubs?” He pulled open the nightstand drawer and there were five bulbs, carefully laid down. Not a break in a single filament, not a crack in a single bulb.

And that is when Joe’s mommy realized that there was no way to anticipate what Joe II might do next and the best thing to do was…well, she’s taking suggestions. Because she doesn’t know what to do with a kid that will take all the bulbs out without even breaking one and know that was he did was amazing and totally inappropriate all at the same time.