The Evidence Was There

My first clue that something wasn't quite right was a little teddy bear sitting in the hall.  This wasn't your average 18-22 inch fluffy stuffed bear.  This one was special.  This one was small and had been given by the judge on adoption day back in July.

A few steps further down the hall led me right past big sister's room, where bits of paper were ripped and spread like confetti all over her floor.  I had tucked in big sister myself, so I knew that this was not there before.

A few steps more led me to my very own room and further evidence.  There was a Velcro sticker stuck to my computer screen(!), my vanity drawers were open, other doors, once closed, were opened or, once opened, were closed.  The mouse had been busy on my computer, no doubt because someone was searching for an episode of Thomas the Tank Engine.  The kicker, though, was that my SD card for my camera had been destroyed.

Yes, there was evidence that someone was not sleeping when he was supposed to be sleeping.  There was evidence that tucking my little children in for the night and then watching Daniel Boone with the hubby and big kids with a sigh of contentment at the end of another long day caused me to let my mama guard down prematurely.  Yes, there was evidence.

A search of beds found each child angelically sleeping in his or her own bed.  I could sense the halos above each peaceful head.  There were no muddy footprints and no trails of crumbs.  How was I to determine the culprit?  I guess I determined it in the way mom's everywhere have done since the beginning of time.

I knew.  Yes, I just knew.

One of my angels has long had a very crooked, tarnished halo that I can even see when he sleeps.