The other day I took Gal Smiley to the dentist for a cleaning and checkup. They gave her a bright pink toothbrush and she was really excited to rush home and use it right away.

When we got home she ran upstairs to put it in the toothbrush holder in the bathroom. She pulled out her old brush and asked me if we needed to keep it, or if she could throw it away.

I told her to go ahead and put it in the garbage. So of course, Captain Jelly Belly burst into tears and begged me, BEGGED me to not to let it go to the big, dark, smelly, scary hole in the ground where it would feel lonely and unloved.

Gal Smiley is a really sweet and giving child, especially when it comes to the Captain, so she rushed right over with a tissue in hand to try to comfort him.

She patted him on the back and said, “Don’t worry Captain! It’s just a dream! It’s just a dream!”

Yes, Captain, just a dream. A horrible, horrible nightmare where we actually put garbage in the garbage, instead of hoarding it in small piles throughout the house until we’re forced to get official city clearance to have our lot declared it’s very own above-ground landfill site. Shudder.

(Gal Smiley’s old toothbrush now lives on the shelf in her room. I’m a softie.)