Geof Harries

Our youngest child is about 18 months old. In other words, a toddler. And boy, is he busy, curious and a little bit mischievous, as toddlers most often are.

Here's how to tell you've got one on the premises:

• There's sippy cups in obscure places (cupboards, under the couch or in a drawer) with two-week old rotten milk inside
• You turn the bathtub water on, step into the shower and your foot lands directly onto a pile of random, and now slippery, toys
• If you find open what was once a full bag of pencil crayons with most of them missing, follow the dropped pencil trail to either the couch or wall, as this is where he's likely been expressing himself, y'know, creatively
• There's tiny hand prints on any glass surface in the house, all at the two-foot level
• DVDs and CDs reside where you're pretty sure you didn't leave them last
• Soothers are stuffed in between cushions and in deep, dark places that you can't reach when he and/or you needs one most
• Older siblings' precious toys and books are scattered around the backyard where you know they wouldn't leave them, but he would
• And last, but not least: Cheerios. Everywhere