Yesterday, I went shopping for groceries. I hate shopping - it's hard work and I can never get absolutely all of it done in one day unless I can get out of the house right after breakfast. And, lately, it's not easy for me to get out of the house at all. I took all four of the kids with me this time, because I still tire easily. They were so helpful! I let the older ones push the cart, and I just walked around and pointed out what to put in it. Mostly! I still got REALLY tired out!
Anyhow, we got home with a vanload of groceries, including a pork loin from Sam's Club. I try to get most of our meat from there because I can get the larger quantities at a slightly lower price and package it up in individual meal sizes for the freezer. I had let the kids put the groceries away because I needed to rest when we got home. By the time that was done, it was time to start supper. Thankfully, we were just having leftovers so it wasn't long before supper was ready.
About an hour later, we were finishing up our dinner when it occurred to me that I didn't know where the meat was. I was concerned that it had been put into the freezer before I'd had a chance to cut it up and package it in smaller quantities. When I questioned the kids about it, the ground beef was in the fridge, but the pork loin wasn't. I was struck to discover that no one seemed to know where the pork loin was!
We all jumped up from the table and started searching. It wasn't in the freezer. It wasn't in the van. Amy remembered putting it in the cooler when we unloaded the cart into the van, and Tim hauled that cooler into the house. So, it had to be in the house somewhere! Tim was the last one to have it, but he'd pretended it was a baseball bat and swung it around a bit; after that, he couldn't remember what he'd done with it. Collin remembered yelling at Tim about playing with his food or some such thing, but couldn't recall anything after that.
So, logically, the only one left to question was Mandy. Now, this child is notorious for swiping things and hiding them in unusual places. She's more like her big sister than Amy wants to admit! Once, when Amy was about Mandy's age, I found a shriveled up slice of mozzarella cheese in the bathroom drawer where I kept my hairbrushes. That was before we had any other children, so there was only one culprit for that. Amy liked to stash snacks in strange places for later consumption, and, like a squirrel hiding acorns, she sometimes forgot about them. But, sometimes she didn't! She came into my room one day with chocolate all around her little mouth and a sweet, satisfied look in her eyes. Upon further investigation, I found a little pile of Oreo cookies behind the couch under the curtains where she would hide to eat them.
When I questioned Mandy about the pork loin, I had to ask her in simple terms that a four-year-old understands. Things like, "Mandy, did you see the long meat?" (hands out wide for visual effect)
"You mean the BIG meat?" (Little hands stretched out wide)
"Yes, the big one."
Blank stares...more questioning..."Mandy, where is the big meat? Did you take it?"
Suddenly, the light came on and a mischievous look swept over her sweet little face. She grabbed my hand and tip-toed me through the house, all the way from the kitchen to the stairs, and pointed up. "Come on!" she whispered.
We crept up the stairs, as if the pork loin was alive and we didn't want to wake it up. She led me to her bed, giggled, and pointed to the drawer underneath. By this time I was getting a bit exasperated, but hopeful.
"Open the drawer, please, Mandy."
She struggled to open the drawer (there was obviously something heavy inside) and there, resting peacefully, was our pork loin! THANKFULLY the packaging was still intact so there wasn't any need to sanitize the drawer. It was also still very cold so I have no doubt that it wasn't spoiled by this time.
Now, I'd really like to know just how that little girl managed to carry nine and a half pounds of meat up the stairs to her room, especially without any damage to the packaging. I almost wish I'd seen her do it. Maybe she saw her big brother with it slung over his shoulder and decided it couldn't be too hard. I'd also like to know what exactly she planned to do with all that meat. That was certainly the strangest snack stash our family has come up with so far.
Whatever the motive, I'm really thankful that God alerted us to the fact that she'd swiped it, and He did so BEFORE we had to leave for Bible study. In addition to the loss of almost $18 worth of meat, I shudder to think what that would have smelled like in a day or two! A dead mouse smells bad enough...but nine and a half pounds of dead pig??? Yuck!
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