Imagine this: Kaitlyn and I are doing our morning routines together...we're getting dressed, brushing our teeth & hair, making our beds, she goes to put her laundry in the washer and I swished & swiped. I leave the bathroom and return a minute later to witness Kait elbow deep in the toilet. Yup- ELBOW DEEP! Her head and hair just about to follow suit. I panicked. All I could get out before I even knew it was an extremely loud, "KAIT!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" I terrified her. She started crying. No sobbing, "Why did you do that? You scared me." Now granted, I just cleaned it, but it's the dern toilet for cryin' out loud!!! I immediately sprung into action, well, more like panic mode. I took her clothes off, wiped the water off her hands and started to wash her hands. I told her to never touch the toilet again. I don't know why I didn't think to tell her before. Must have slipped my mind that yes, a 3 year old will play with the toilet at least a few times before they realize how gross it is.
So, after me freaking out and telling her we don't touch the inside of the toilet, how nasty that is, and making sure she did NOT drink any of the water .... gag....blua....I calmed down and we finished our morning routine.
A few minutes after being downstairs and eating breakfast, I realized I didn't explain WHY we don't touch the inside of the toilet and toilet water. It made me think that all I did was probably confuse her. So, I asked her if she knew why mommy yelled at her this morning about not touching the toilet. She said, "Yes, b/c I'll get into trouble." Aw. My baby girl. That made me feel horrible. I explained to her that that was not why. I explained I wanted her to be healthy and clean. I went on to explain that the water is not safe to play with (although isn't it clean water after each flush. Does that even matter?) You get the point. She looked at me and said she was sorry. Felt even worse. Then I had an idea!!
You know about Glitter Germs right? It was how I taught the boys about why it's important to not just rinse your hands while washing but to use soap and water. And secretly, I hope that doing this activity would help erase any scarring I had just built into her about the toilet. Sigh....
So here's what you need to teach Glitter Germs:
Glitter. Kait chose purple. Her favorite color.
Lotion of your choice. (This is my favorite lotion!!!)
I sat Kait down and told her I wanted to show her WHY she should leave the commode alone. I gave her a tiny bit of lotion.
We poured some glitter aka "germs" on her hands. She wiped her hands on a paper towel. The germs didn't come off. I told her to shake her hands. Nope. Still full of germs. Then I had her rince her hands with water only.
The germs didn't come off with the water either!!!!!!!!
We tried to wash the germs off again, but added soap. We sung A-B-C-D-E-F-G....the whole alphabet. Then wiped off her hands with a paper towel.
Ta-da!!! Germs are gone!!!
She loved this. Thank goodness. I hope this will replace the memory of my face this morning....
Sigh....
Until next time,
Reb
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