This weekend, I gave Eleanor a slightly damaged but very cool-looking see-through globe to share in her 3rd grade classroom. The burn marks near the South Pole could easily pass for tidal waves, I thought. This was her response a couple days later:

"The kids loved the globe. I told them the whole story of how you had put it in the dishwasher. They thought it was weird and funny that you would do that."

Weird? I think not. Listen up, kids. There is a lesson in everything we do. Now we have scientifically proven: (1) that a globe can fit into the dishwasher even though it is a different shape. (2) that the cable at the bottom of the dishwater gets dangerously hot. (3) that plastic can burn and produce horrendous toxic fumes. And (4) that dishwashers were probably meant for only washing dishes.

Appreciate the education. Cherish the globe.