We had friends over last weekend, and it was toward the end of their visit when I saw Peter come to me with a concerned look on his face, walking out of the bathroom with the faucet handle in his hand. It took a minute to register that the same handle belonged on the sink faucet. Normally, these handles are firmly affixed and can easily handle normal use. But what I’ve learned in my 12 years of being a mom of boys is that most products are not put through any kind of vigorous quality assurance testing. You may remember one year ago, when the other washroom appliance acted up.

It has now been a week since the handle snapped off, and the decapitated faucet still stares at me when I’m visiting the lavatory. In a vain attempt to prove that the faucet was still usable, Peter cranked the mechanics so that the water somehow turned on and he was able to wash his hands. But he soon realized that he couldn’t turn the water back off, so he came out with the same concerned look on his face to tell me the water was stuck on. After much muscling and cranking, I turned the water back off and lectured to the boys not to lay a hand on the faucet.