You know your the parent of a toddler when...

I knew there was at least one other thing I was going to write about that I forgot earlier.  So my father-in-law calls yesterday to let us know that he is about 2 hours away and will be arriving that night.  I went ahead and pulled out the vacuum cleaner to give the carpets a once over.  I notice right away that it is not sucking in anything and the air thing is not spinning the way it is supposed to.  I check all three filters on it and none seem to be especially dirty or clogged.  I start investigating the different components.  I'm really getting concerned because we just bought this vacuum a couple years ago, so it should not be old enough to be broken yet.  And coming off the washer experience I was just not happy about it.

So I check out the tube in the back and sure enough there is a big blockage.  Upon further investigation I find that the culprit is a matchbox car that some how mysteriously ended up in the tube, and has cause a blockage which then filled up with all the dirt the machine tried to suck up.  After taking it apart and fishing the car/dirt out with a clothes hanger, the vacuum was back to normal.  I'm not even quite sure how he got it in there, only a skill a two year old could master!