Where do teenage boys put their brains while they're at home?

Tweet

My 15 year old son is a great lad, really bright - so long as he's in school. At home, he does some incredibly brainless things. Luckily, they always make us chuckle. Like most boys, loading the washing machine is a bit of a closed book to him, but his twin sister (who normally does it when I'm too busy) has been poorly and decided it was time he learned. Having explained about sorting whites from colours, setting the right temperature etc she told him to put the detergent in. We've switched from powder to tablets in recent months, so when he got the box out of the cupboard he was a bit bemused. He picked up the little plastic bag containing the Aerial tabs. What did he have to do? Did they have to be crushed up before they were put in the detergent drawer? In exasperation she told him no, of course not - you simply put them in the machine just as they were. Ah, of course. He understood now. It was a pretty grubby wash, but even so, when the cycle had finished I was surprised to see how dirty some of the clothes still were. I wondered if the machine was working properly - there had been an odd banging noise from the drum at times. As I unloaded the clothes, moaning about how poorly this new Ariel formulation was performing, I found a damp little package. It was a small plastic bag, containing two very crumbled - but totally unused - wash tablets. Yep, Son of mine had taken it as read that "Putting them in the machine just as they were" meant just that - popping the entire packet in without opening it. We should have explained it better, he said. One day, ladies, he will be somebody's husband. You have been warned.