Piper Strikes Again (or, How to Deal with a Procrastination Habit)

Thursday, August 27, 2009

BLOG POST RATING: G for GRRRROSSNESS
I've been putting off cleaning the bathroom for about two weeks. The silt started building up in the toilet, and I was seeing the pink mold starting to grow in the tub. Every morning, I'd get up, determined to get it cleaned, and every night I'd ready for bed, trying not to look at what I hadn't found energy to accomplish.

So Piper took things into her own hands this morning. I guess she'd had enough of the mess in there. Or perhaps she really did just intend to have a tea party.

She has been happily playing by herself in her room for longer periods of time over the last couple of weeks, so I've been allowing my guard down a little further, lending the two-year-old a bit more of my trust. Not checking on her every five minutes when she gets quiet.

I shouldn't have let myself get so comfortable.

After I refused her a water bottle she had requested to fill up her teacups this morning, she disappeared. I assumed she was simply playing, moving quietly between her movie in the living room and her toys in her bedroom, a normal routine for her. It wasn't until I glanced over at her living-room-trekking self that I realized she had a cup. And it was full of water.

It didn't take a genius to figure out where the water came from. The water that she panicked and dumped all over our new carpet when I came after her. Her hair was wet. Oh no. The wood floor in her bedroom was wet. The bathroom was a wreck. There was water everywhere.

And the toilet was nearly empty. In all its unbleached glory.

I don't know a WHOLE lot about sanitation and pregnant women, but I think my midwife would probably die if she knew what I was wading around in this morning. I want to be a laidback mom about messes. I can handle things like dirt and goo and powder and food. But I really do have to draw the line at toilet water.

I swiped the tub and dumped the errant toddler in while I soaked up the mess and mopped and bleached everything. Then we washed her but good and I banished her while I finished up by cleaning out the tub. Piper had had enough by that point, and I found her curled up in a blanket on her bed, staying quite out of my way. (I wish the cats had the same sense my daughter has.)

So, the bathroom got cleaned, I think my procrastination habit may be cured entirely, and Piper has learned that she may NOT have toilet tea parties. Ever. I think she values our relationship enough not to repeat. But then, she's two. I think the question may be whether she'll retain the memory of my displeasure the same way she retains the memory of what happens on the Other Side of the Doctor's Door.

So yes, I'm totally venting. And I'm totally seeking sympathy. And I'm totally hoping for stories from other moms to make me believe my morning might really fall into the "normal" category.

Quiet, happy, inspirational thoughts seem so far away when this stuff happens. It is on days like this it is good for ME to remember that I am dust. 'Cause I need a good cleaning I can't accomplish myself.





(image from sxc)

19 comments:

Bunch of Barrons said...

Sounds normal to me! :) I have caught Merrick splashing in the toilet countless times. Putting various items in the toilet too. One morning, I am totally embarrassed to admit, I caught him eating his leftovers from breakfast...OUT OF THE TRASH. Sigh. :)

Unknown said...

Ugh. I'm sorry. that sounds quite awful!

Undeserving said...

Well, that is one way to find energy to clean. :-) But it's all good for a laugh. Kids in the toilet are pretty common... and from what I've read, it's the underside of the toilet seat that is the most germ-infested, not the water. The water is actually surprisingly clean. So, no worries Piper might sprout purple hair or something. :-)

Hee hee... thank for encouraging me to get to my cleaning, though.

Carrie said...

Oh, dear. This is SO something my Zachary would do. :( I'm sorry you had a rough morning!!!

Kate said...

*laughs* Kelly, I was wondering what happened when you disappered on Google talk! :-)

Lora Lynn @ Vitafamiliae said...

Oh, dear. Rest assured, when my 2yo wasn't randomly napping today, she whined her way through the morning. And she insisted on dumping out her own little potty into the big potty with her brother's help. Which means I can't even begin to fathom the unhygeinic properties of my bathroom floor.

Chin up, Mama. They all play in the toilet and they all survive. Feed her yogurt if you're worried. :-)

Cassandra Frear said...

Oh Kelly, if we were face friends, I would take you out for coffee and the richest, most luscious brownie you've ever tasted.

Rosario said...

The joys of motherhood. I can't remember if this happened to me. My children are much older, but the thing that gets to me is that after I just moped the floor, someone spills juice on it. Argg! They also spill bevarages in the fridge. My favorite memory, eggs. All dozen spread on my kitchen floor. When you least want to clean your kids make a mess for you. Praying you feel better.

the Joneses said...

I don't imagine the germ count was a horrendous as you fear, but it's still icky. Also it's absolutely par for the course with a two-year-old. Addie learned to take off her diaper very early. Could I ever tell you some horrors!

-- SJ

Amy W said...

Let's see...Super Bowl Sunday several years ago. Hubby & I were in the basement watching the game. The girls (ages 5 & 3, I think) had gotten bored and gone upstairs. When we came up to check on them, they had been using an aluminum roasting pan (think: extremely flimsy) to transport water from the bathroom to the kitchen. There was water EVERYWHERE. Oh, and my younger daughter had a bottle of rubbing alcohol held up to her lips. (Everything turned out fine...we called poison control and decided she hadn't actually ingested it.)

Megs said...

OK...despite knowing how "unpleasant" it must have been for you...I found the whole story quite hilarious...and I give you permission to laugh when I'm a mom and that happens to me!! :0)

Glynn said...

This was a lugh out loud. We have two grown sons -- and the stories I could tell! This was great (at least for us, the readers).

Sarah M. said...

Ewwww! I can't imagine. Thankfully the bathroom is the next room over from our computer room so I can hear when L goes into there. But that sounds like something she would do.

I'm sorry you had to clean up the mess, but at least the toilet water was um... clean. :)

Anonymous said...

Ew! Well, tonight Josh is gone and I was getting the boys out of their bath. I took Owen out and Duncan usually obeys me and stays in the empty tub with his toys. But he got out tonight while I was diapering Owen.

"I did it!" he shouted and I knew that he was loose.

I quickly tried to finish with Owen but by the time I did that I noticed a lot of water on the hallway floor. Only it wasn't water.

And there was a poop in the kitchen. Yeah. Nice.

Amber@theRunaMuck said...

Oh, Babe, this is all I know as normal! Promise. FOr a while there, I had two so obsessed with potty water that I thought I would have to be taken to the nervous hospital.

Elizabeth @claritychaos said...

visiting via Run A Muck. :)

funny story, and with three little boys, I tell you I have been there. You want stories? Come by my blog and pick one at random. ;)

Hang in there, Mama.

Elise @A Path Made Straight said...

Oh, my. You had me laughing, moaning in commiseration, and shivering just a little at the yuckiness.

Bless her little heart. Finding something to do. And the panic when you came after her- that is so universal! It's the toddler crawling faster when you say their name and they're on the way to touching a no-no. It's the seven-year-old tucking the extra cookie behind his back even as chocolate smears his lips. :)

Cleaning the bathroom? Not my favorite thing either, and definitely gets put off way longer than it should. As Eliana gets older, I'm trying to never say, Ugh, it's time to clean the bathroom! Instead, I say, Time to clean! Want to help? and I tuck her up on the (cleaned) counter with her feet resting in the sink and give her a natural glass cleaner and she sprays and wipes the mirror while I do the yucky. And somehow, the time goes faster and we come closer and the bathroom gets cleaner.

And then I feel like doing this.

Jessica said...

I have a feeling that playing in toilet water is a lot more hygienic than eating your own poo, as we caught Sierra just starting to do the other day. GAAH!! (She had apparently exploded her diaper and wanted to see what her food tasted like the second time around... oh man.) But that was 2 weeks ago, and she hasn't died or broken out in hives yet. ;-)

Annnd... I'm not even going to mention how long I usually go between bathroom cleanings. :-p

Unknown said...

Sorry Kelly, but this made me laugh. :) It's funny when it's someone else's child ya know. Ella recently discovered the toilet, but thankfully she has two older ones watching almost every move and they let me know about it real quick. :)

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