BREWSTER, N.Y. -- The D'Onofrio family of Brewster keeps its telephones out of the reach of 21-month-old Billy, since he likes to push the buttons and make random calls. There's tape over the television controls to keep him from changing the channel.

But the little boy's inquisitive nature is no longer considered a problem, not since he opened the battery compartment on the TV remote and uncovered a purple battery worth $100,000.

The AAA Duracell was one of 12 labeled "winner" that the manufacturer had slipped into packages as part of a promotional campaign. The D'Onofrios had put it into the remote _ which was a replacement for one Billy had accidentally thrown into the trash _ without noticing that it was special.

Then, on Jan. 20, Billy managed to open the remote and shake the battery onto the floor, where his mother, Lisa, finally noticed it.

She assumed it would get her a coupon.

"I would have been happy with a year's worth of batteries," she told The Journal News, noting that there's a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old in the house as well as Billy.

But Duracell told her the prize was $100,000.

"I can't believe we won something this big," Lisa D'Onofrio said. The family will use the money to boost the children's college funds and pay a few large bills, she said. The family was to pick up its check Thursday at the Toys "R" Us in Danbury, Conn., where the battery was purchased.

"How lucky was that child?" said Michele Szynal, communications director of Gillette Co., Duracell's parent. "Just thinking about it makes me smile."