We were sitting at dinner tonight when we heard a noise.

“What’s that sound?” asked Anthony.

It was coming from over by the stove. “I just took the ribs out of the oven, I think they’re sizzling.”

“I don’t think so.” Anthony walked over, just past the stove and into the entry. “There’s water coming out of the ceiling.”

I raced upstairs. Nick had washed his hands and left the sink faucet on at full throttle. Twenty minutes ago. The sink drains slow.

“WHO LEFT THE WATER ON?”

Nick chased me upstairs. He answered my rhetorical question as I used four bath towels and the floor mat to mop up the flood. “Oh. Sorry. Sorry mom.”

We watched water pour out of the ceiling light fixture at the entry. We watched water drip around door frames at the entry and in the basement. We were surprisingly calm.

My children, like forces of nature, are destroying the house.