August 28, 2008

The Joys of Having Boys

So I walked into the boys' room this morning, having completed a successful language arts session with Charis, to tell Arden that I was ready to do his school reading with him. Immediately I noticed a horrible smell. Arden has had some nighttime accidents and so has been wearing pull-ups off and on, so at first I scanned the room for a wadded up wet pull-up, a sadly familiar sight of late because he neglects to take care of it first thing in the morning.

But what should my eyes see but a giant wet spot on the floor?! Right next to where Arden was building a road, I might add! I confronted him about the spot...a couple of nights ago, out of sheer laziness, he had peed in his room, and Ted had had to deal with all that right before bedtime. When I asked this time, he told me "Tobin did it." I asked him to look me in the eyes and tell me the truth, and once again he affirmed that his brother had done it. I wasn't about to let him off the hook, though, so I told him to follow me downstairs.

Tobin was at the table, finishing up his own language arts work. When I asked him about it, his response was, "Arden did it first." Great! A collaborative effort! How wonderful that they are unified over SOMETHING! It soon became clear that both boys had, indeed, peed on their bedroom carpet. Tobin's first excuse was that he had to go so badly that he couldn't make it to the toilet. Um, right, you couldn't go 10 steps farther to the bathroom RIGHT OUTSIDE YOUR DOOR?!?!

Discipline ensued, to include both of them working to clean their mess and then a phone call to Daddy at work (which I think upset them more than the spanking I had given each of them to begin with). They both tearfully apologized to both Ted and myself and asked for forgiveness, which of course was granted.

But gee whiz!!! Am I raising puppies or children?! This reminds me of the days we lived in Maryland, shortly after Tobin was potty trained, when we discovered his handiwork in odd places...like his dresser drawer, his toybox, his toy boat, and the infant car seat that we weren't using at the time. I guess he felt the freedom to let fly whenever and wherever he had a whim. Let's hope we don't regress THAT far.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Mercy! Sounds like loads of fun! My brothers used to pee in their closet when they got too lazy to go downstairs. The first time or two it was a sleepwalking accident but then Adam admitted to doing it on purpose. And they were older than your boys! Oh, and we had some 2nd graders at our school who decided to try to write their names on the bathroom walls and playground walls. Guess every boy has to have a skill...

Bob and Claire said...

LOL!!! I know it wasn't funny at the time (and it wouldn't be to me if I was the mom!), but it sure is funny reading about it! Both of them--LOL!!! Good thing you're blogging so you have record of all these incidents for when you are meeting future spouses, etc. You certainly wouldn't want stories like that to get lost in the mists of time! : )

Megan R. said...

I think it's the joy of being able to aim the hose wherever they very well please! LOL I've heard of moms of two boys having to yell at them to not pee on each other when they're trying to share the toilet at the same urgent moment first thing in the morning. Just wait until you move someplace cold and get a good snowfall. They'll be out in the front lawn writing their names. ;-)

Krista said...

My mother-in-law loves to tell the story of when my husband and his little friend had a peeing contest... in their upstairs hallway! Who could pee the highest on the wall! ;)
Good luck!

Lora @ my blessed life said...

Oh, wow! I'm in the midst of potty-training my 3 yr old son. It's going fairly well, although there are moments when I'd love to pull my hair out (or maybe his!). Like today when he pooped once in his pants and then later peed in the floor of the living room. Oh the joys!

Anonymous said...

This isn't funny, but it is, especially since I just received my first shower between Anders' diaper changes. The joys of outdoor plumbing.

Anonymous said...

Beverly this story is a hoot! Kyle went through a phase where I would find him "relieving himself" out in the backyard in the bushes. (at about age 6 or 7)At least there was no mess no clean up! Good Luck...

stampinstars said...

You had me laughing out loud!! I know it wasn't funny at the time, but now that some time has passed, you've got to admit that it's pretty funny! erin