Recently at a pool party with relatives, all of the kids including my own took the cabana hostage and turned it into a playhouse, an all day tea-party, a film festival and just about anything they could fashion together with a little imagination, some cushions, grass cloth and oh right, my tampons.

My brother took a turn peeking his head into the “fort” that for a time was off-limits to adults to check for things like; injuries, disputes, fire, choking victims, unnecessary hair-cuts or otherwise and after a quick tour of what was now an orphanage run by Miss Hannigan and her evil sidekick, Cruella Deville emerged from the front door with an uncomfortable grin and called over to his wife and myself suggesting one of us should visit the cabana as the kids had found some lollipops and perhaps they needed permission to indulge having already eaten so many chips.

I wandered over expecting my kids to have that guilty look on their faces like they had found some candy and weighed the pros and cons of asking permission clearly opting instead to ask for forgiveness.

I stumbled upon the following scene:

Three kids lying on cushions on the floor (orphans) each with a tampon in their hands simulating either a cigarette or a popsicle. The baby was sitting on a stool in the corner and had successfully chewed part of a wrapper and the end of a tampon completely off while others were being used as swords.

The look on my face was all it took to send one of my nephews (of course it had to be a boy) darting out the door of the orphanage to do one victory lap around the pool, tampon torch hoisted high for the world to see before returning them to their not-so-discreet pouch in my back-pack.

Serves me right for leaving it at the orphanage, clearly those kids need them more than I do.

Cheers to creativity.