I've discovered that, based on the contents of our recently-emptied vacuum cleaner canister, only one in one-hundred Cheerios or Cheerios-like objects (hereafter known as CLOs), such as "[Trader] Joe's Os" or "Toasty-Os," actually make it into the mouth of the average toddler. The rest end up in various places throughout the house and car and, ultimately, the vacuum cleaner. CLOs, with their central holes, are tricky things to vacuum up, too. There's something about the hole that seems to counteract the suction and keep the little suckers planted firmly on the ground. Either that, or we need to buy a better vacuum cleaner, like one of those $400 Dyson jobs that shines your shoes and sorts your laundry, too (it had better do something other than just suck up dirt for that much money).

Please note that the above-mentioned study was completely unscientific, and was based solely on examining the contents of the vacuum and ruminating on the fact that we go through about a box of CLOs a week. I actually had the brilliant idea of filtering out the CLOs from the rest of the dust and junk from the canister, cleaning them off, and using them as food again, but this was promptly and firmly vetoed by my wife, who obviously isn't anywhere near as practical and innovative as I am.