It's a Crappy Job, But...

There are some things we could never envision ourselves doing before we became homeowners, parents, or both. And then there are some things we thought we had given up doing once our kids were toilet trained, at least until we become grandparents someday. Now, mind you, my youngest is eight, so we've had it good for a while.

Son #2 was in the shower for a long time last night (nothing new) but it was after 8:30 and his younger brother still hadn't had his turn. So I rapped on the door and asked him to hurry up (again, nothing new). I try not to go in there at these times, now that they're older, since I'm in a house full of males and they should have their privacy. But the time kept ticking on, and the father showed no signs of willingness to disturb his state of being sprawled on the bedroom floor in front of the TV. So...

What do I find? A very bewildered and embarrassed eleven year old, standing in the shower with the water off, but in about an inch full of water and poop. Apparently dinner disagreed with him (no, not my fault; I was at the elementary school open house and Daddy took them to the diner) and he wasn't able to get out of the tub in time. Sigh. You can't make this shit up, literally. He was trying to figure out what to do, because the drain was clogged, and he was afraid he'd get in trouble. Well, if he'd called one of us right away, there would've been much less trouble.

So picture the mother, trying to help him clean his feet while trying to also dry off and get out of the tub, which still is full of water and you know what. Then picture me trying to unscrew the drain from the bottom of the tub, and it's not cooperating because the screw is stripped, and it's not as though I want to put my hand in to lift the screw while I'm turning it because the tub is STILL full of you know what. Luckily the father took mercy on me after about 10 minutes of futile effort...as it is approaching 9:00, with Son #3 still in the on deck circle and bedtime (9:30) rapidly closing in. He did put his hands in there. Ewww. Then again, he's an electrician and comes into contact with all sorts of disgusting things when doing demolition. So I finished cleaning the tub and we finished our evening routine (if you can call it that).

Another evening down the drain.