What dreams are made of

When my sisters and I were tiny tots, we had a hard time thinking of suitable gifts to get my mom for her birthday and Christmas. My dad, helpful guy that he is, gave us a few suggestions of things she might need.

On one such occasion, we chipped in to buy her a new toilet bowl scrubber. On another, we bought her a broom. Let me assure you, she needed these new items -- her old broom had a wooden handle and the poor soul unfortunate enough to have to sweep was prone to getting a palmful of splinters, and the previous toilet bowl scrubber was an unpleasant shade of orange. But still.

She feigned delight with these gifts, but I'm sure she was inwardly dismayed at opening cleaning supplies on Christmas. If my memory serves me well, she also told my dad to "never get [her] cleaning supplies ever again" as a present.

Naturally, a couple of years ago Heather and I decided to buy her a toilet scrubber for Christmas as a joke. But don't worry, we got her a real gift as well.



Pity you can't see the whole scrubber.

That being said, here is a short wish list of cleaning supplies that I would like (but not for a holiday):

1. A dust pan. The dust pan we currently have came with the broom and unfortunately has a curved edge so it doesn't lay flat on the floor. It makes disposing of floor crumbs tricky.

2. Granular deodorant. The brand we used at BYU was called Pur-o-Mint, and apparently if you sprinkle it on vomit it absorbs the moisture so you can vacuum it up. I never had the opportunity to use it, but it sounds pretty spiffy. And I'm sure it would come in handy once we have children.

3. A washer and dryer. These are items I wouldn't mind getting for a holiday. St. Patrick's Day surprise, anyone?