rock on

Put up your hand if you have ever found rocks in your washing machine... come on, I can't be the only one. My kids love rocks. Biking, walking, riding in the stroller..... constantly stopping to admire rocks. "Whose are these?" " Why are they here?" "What kind of rocks are these?" ... and the favorite... "Can I take some home?" My Nemesis: pockets jammed with rocks... little pockets that my fingers can't fit into to, that is if I discover them before I do the laundry. Throwing away little piles of the "jewels" that I find everywhere, only to deal with hysteria later. Also, stepping on rocks IN THE HOUSE! I finally had to draw the line... no more bringing rocks home. They could look and admire all they like but no more touching... or "stealing" as I termed it to further convince them. "If you take those rocks home, you would be stealing because someone else owns those rocks" I'd say. It seemed to work so I went with it. The night we moved into this house, the kids discovered rocks under our deck. Yes, we have a deck! (yahoo!) A deck that covers a good 6' by 8' garden of beautiful, white rocks. That is where I found the three little miners... hunched under the deck, basking in the joy of their discovery.... "Mom, we OWN these rocks"!