Jan 14th, 2008
Separate Bathrooms
I’ve always said that the key to a happy marriage is separate bathrooms 
Ever since Hubby and I have been married, we’ve never had to share a bathroom, and I’m SOOOOO fine with that.
But today, my son requested a separate bathroom from his sister. It went something like this . . .
Me: Hey guys - go wash hands. Dinner’s ready.
They both bolt from their writing at the counter and race down the hall to the bathroom. I hear a couple crashes, bumps into the wall, and “Stop it Jason!” “No, YOU stop pushing me Keira!” “But I was here fiwest!” “Well, I’m here now, so get out and wait!”
Never mind that there are THREE bathrooms in our house. And at this particular moment, there are THREE of us living in the house since Hubby is gone flying. So in reality, we each have our very own bathroom. But, it wouldn’t be much fun if you couldn’t argue with your brother/sister over who got to the bathroom first.
Me: Guys! Stop the arguing and wash up for dinner! It doesn’t matter who go there first!
In all reality, it DOES matter who got there first. It’s a competition, man! I am very competitive - everything is a game. I hated when they allowed hockey games to end in a tie. I mean, those men are payed millions of dollars to PLAY A GAME - there should be no ties! It’s a game! And every game has a winner and a loser. Even kiddie soccer games at the YMCA . . . everybody keeps score, except the YMCA. But I digress . . . back to the bathroom.
Keira: HEY JASON! Turn the light on!
SLAM!
Keira: JAY - SON! Turn the light on and open the door!
Me: Dude, get back there, open the door, turn the light on, and get that grin off of your face.
Jason: But it was an ACCIDENT! When I left the bathroom the door got caught on my hand and closed. And I always turn the light off - I forgot she was in there!
Me: Dude, really? An accident? What (pause for dramatic effect) EVER! Get back there.
Jason: But I’m not supposed to go in the bathroom when Keira’s going potty.
Me: Dude - get to that bathroom NOW, open the door, and turn on the light!
Jason: Fine. I wish Keira and I had separate bathrooms!
This is the where I pull a Grandpa moment . . .
Me: You wish you had separate bathrooms? Dude, you’re lucky you have separate BEDrooms! Lots of kids have to share a room with their siblings. I had to share a bedroom with Uncle Pat for a while. And Monster Grandpa - he had to share one bedroom with 7 of his brothers! There were 8 boys in one room! And Noisy Grandma, she had to share a bedroom with her sisters. And I’m pretty sure if you ask any of them, they also had to walk 5 miles to school, in the snow, uphill both ways. So you’d better be thankful that you even have your own room and stop arguing about the bathroom, or you might come home from school one day to find that half of your room is painted pink!
Jason: Whoa . . . they had to walk all the way to school? And it was uphill both ways? That must have been HARD!
Ahhhh . . . the simplest detail to distract a little mind so they miss the entire point of your story.
RSS Feed
The “walk to school, in the snow, uphill, both ways” story never gets old, does it? LOL
Turning into your parents, huh?
Bells are ringing all over the place! This is wildly familiar in my house!!!!!! We have more than one bathroom, but they fight over the same one every night to brush their teeth. Love the grandpa moment!
I can’t believe he totally spaced out, “you might come home from school one day and half of your room will be painted pink” and diverted to amazement over the grandpa story! The story you told him about Monster Grandpa sharing a bedroom with his 7 brothers is absolutely true. If you ever need a story to use if they complain about their clothes you can use this Grandpa story which is also true. All of the clothes for the 8 boys were mixed together (underwear, socks, pants, shirts) and what they got to wear was based on who got to it first and this continued until the boys were able to make some money by doing EXTRA chores on the farm and could buy their own clothes (couldn’t include their normal chores which were expected as part of being a family member). Monster Grandpa said that sometimes he would pick out the clothes he wanted the night before and put them inside his pillowcase so no one else got them first. Love…Mom
I hope when my kids are this age I have your comebacks - “you might come home and half your room will be painted pick!” - I LOVE it!! I’m sure I will have many of these moments to deal with. Don’t ya just love the - but it was an accident??! I had a student tell me once that it was an accident that he bite someone else–uhm, really, because you left teethmarks….doesn’t sound like an accident to me! It is always an accident when they are trying to get out of trouble!
I’m SO going to have to remember this story for the future!
Tell Jason that we had one bathroom and four bedrooms. So I shared a bathroom with five brothers, three sisters, one mom, one grandmother (90’s) who lived with us, one father and about 22 grandchildren, plus boyfriends who stayed on weekends with us at different stages of my life, plus the same situation at our lake home with one outhouse.
Also, I once slept on a screen door set on top or two boxes because everyone was home for Christmas.
My bedroom was Curly’s, Bunny’s, Marie Helen’s, etc. until it became mine.
Grandma Sue
I am laughing so hard right now.
I felt like I was RIGHT THERE throughout that whole exchange.
Loved it!
My Dad used to pull the “uphill in the snow” story until I was about 11 and realized it didn’t snow in Hawaii.
But I’m right there with ya with the “smallest detail distracts”…it’s one of my favorite parenting techniques! Doncha love it?