Cheerio Fiasco

Ryan is typically a bit slow to fully wake up from his afternoon nap.  Today was no exception.  Since he's still recovering from being sick, he was extra clingy today.  He stumbled downstairs bleary eyed from his nap and crawled into my lap for some cuddle time.  As we were snuggling on the couch, I could hear Gavin rooting through the pantry.  I didn't give it much thought since it seems like he unloads the pantry daily.  I did, however, make a mental note to make it a priority to put child safety locks on the pantry doors.

 After hearing a few crashes from the kitchen, Ryan whispered, "maybe we should go check on Gavin."  I assured him that everything was fine; that Gavin had most likely discovered the unopened bag of Halloween candy and was preoccupied with figuring out a way to open it.    Obviously the more responsible one of the two of us, Ryan decided to check on him anyway.  He tiptoed into the kitchen.  I then heard him gasp, "Mommy, I think you're going to want to see this."  I did not respond as quickly as you'd expect - I figured no one was seriously hurt or maimed since I hadn't heard any blood-curdling shrieks.  Therefore, I reasoned I was about to discover a disastrous mess.  Here is what I found:

Gavin had dumped an entire bag of Cheerios all over the pantry floor!  To his credit, he was trying to clean up by putting smashed fistfuls of Cheerios into the crock pot and Daddy's insulated lunch bag.  (We'll be finding Cheerio bits for weeks!)  Deciding it would be fun to help clean up, the boys scrambled for the vacuum cleaner and wet mop.  In their haste, they stepped on the pile of Cheerios, grinding them into a fine powder.  Naturally, they quickly lost interest, and then tracked Cheerio dust through the rest of the downstairs as they looked for toys to play with.  Guinness, the canine vacuum cleaner, snorted as many as he could inhale before he was shooed away.  I'm still waiting for him to vomit.  And, the man who was coming to give us an estimate on having our Palladian window tinted called to say he was a few minutes out!  All in a days' work!