We all have those life skill conversations we have with our children before the age of five:
*Why we don’t expose ourselves in public.
*Why we should brush our teeth everyday.
*Why socks are put on before shoes.
*”Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.” -The King and I
The other day, my son goofed up one of those talks. The one that starts and ends with: We only pee in the toilet. He totally missed, so I sent him to clean it up with a bunch of paper towels. Mentally noting that I’d have to follow up when he was finished, I started to move a load of clothes from the washer to dryer when I heard it.
Y’know…”it.”
The toilet flushed and I knew exactly what my logical child had done. “We put used toilet paper in the toilet, so why not a large urine soiled mass of paper towels??” I round the corner from the entryway into the hallway imagining the worst! Knowing with certainty that I’d have to call my father-in-law (he’s a plumbing contractor) for advice about a helplessly clogged toilet, I reach the bathroom to find my shocked child holding a mass of toilet water soaked paper towels over the tiles.
His face…how I wish I’d had my phone on me…it said it all! The shock, the confusion, the betrayal. It was all there. We had NEVER had the conversation about what was safe to flush down a toilet and our low flow, water saving, California drought approved, 0.5 gallon flush toilets totally couldn’t handle the paper towels. A blessing and a curse.
The first mess was his, the second mess was totally mine. Sorry, son. It probably won’t be the first time I’ll forget to let you in on a little life lesson. Learn by experience right?
A Parent Wingin’ It,
Katie
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