This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

One of my resolutions this year is to clean out my closets. What a cliché! But still. After living in the same house for a million years, it's time. In fact, it's way, way past time.

Anyhow, that's how I recently discovered a certain item, buried in one of my boys' closets. I was going to reveal upfront what that item is, but now that I think about it, you'll have more fun guessing what I found. Way, way more fun.

Are you ready? Here are some clues, so go ahead — put on your guessing caps and have at it.

1. This item is neon orange.

2. It's shaped like a cone.

3. You often see these things on city streets.

4. Or on the 1-15 corridor between Salt Lake City and Provo.

5. In fact, you'll probably see them on the 1-15 corridor between Salt Lake City and Provo.

6. For the rest of your life.

7. Because that's how UDOT rolls.

8. Always doing something to the I-15 and thereby alarming my mother.

9. Whenever she drives from her house in Provo to my house in Salt Lake City.

10. Because she never knows when one of those 1-15 lanes is going to shift on her.

Have you guessed what I found buried in the closet yet? If you said a souvenir from my boys' teenage years, aka "an orange construction cone," you're right!

Memo to Mothers with Sweet Baby Boys • Just a quick heads-up. One day you, too, may also discover various surprising items in your boys' bedrooms, such as orange construction cones, street signs, those barricades with the flashing light things, crosswalk flags and a stray dog they brought home from an impromptu road trip to Tijuana. So don't judge, OK?

Anyway. That's not the point. The point is this: I have an orange cone in my house and I don't know what to do with it. Do I call UDOT and tell them I want to return something of theirs?

Or do I just fling that thing out of an open window along 1-15 under the cover of night? (Except that it's heavy.) (Which makes it difficult to fling because flinging orange construction cones = hard work for old moms with limited upper-body strength.)

Maybe I should keep the orange cone as a reminder of those days when my little boys suddenly morphed into hormonal adolescent strangers who rolled their eyeballs at everything I said and also ate a lot of food.

Ah. Those were the days. I never knew who was going to call. The attendance office at West High School telling me that my child had been missing from one or more classes? Or would I hear from a friend who'd spotted that same child roaming the streets of Salt Lake City with other mothers' children who were also getting calls from the attendance office at West High School?

And those were the kinds of calls I received on a good day.

Memo to Mothers of Teenage Boys • Don't worry. They eventually stop rolling their eyeballs and stealing orange cones, although they'll still eat a lot of food. But here's the surprise. You'll have moments where you miss those adolescent guys. Especially the way they used to hang out in the back room with their friends and laugh.

Yup. I do miss the laughing part.

Meanwhile, I've just figured out what to do with the orange cone. If you were the first to come up with the correct answer (i.e. "orange cone"), you win the prize.

You'll never guess what it is.