Speak – Confirm – Repeat – Then Let’s Do It Again

There is one ongoing conversation that has been repeated so many times since summer vacation started that it qualifies for a little bit of crazy.

E Nut, my 5 year old came home from the last day of school with a squirt gun – just one. We have one squirt gun and at least 2 other boys who are dieing to get their hands on it, especially the 2 year old Little Nut Nut. It is not just getting his hands on the squirt gun, it is getting his hands on it and sneaking into the bathroom, closing the door and then proceeding from there – just as his very clever brother E Nut taught him. So very, very sneaky he is.

He sneaks into the bathroom, turns on the water and proceeds to have a great time, drinking from the squirt gun. Then he moves on to drinking out of every cup and toy he can find, washes his hands several times (and then some). He will wash his hands, his arms, chest and legs, the vanity, the stool, the floor and the counter. All this time the water is running full force and he is alternating between the soap and the water and everything else in the bathroom.

All of this can happen in the time that I change the babies diaper or in that time when it is quiet – you know that time – it is quiet and you think things are good – and then you realize that it is too quiet and things could be very bad.

So very, very sneaky he is.

Within a matter of a few minutes the bathroom is flooded, the boy is soaked and I am mopping up water. Again.

Speak. Confirm. Repeat.

Me: Little Nut Nut, NO!
Me: Wing Nut and E Nut, please come here – who was in the bathroom last?
Wing Nut: Not me.
E Nut: Not me.
Me: Of course. Little Nut Nut flooded the bathroom again – when you are done in here, please lock the door behind you.
Wing Nut: OK.
E Nut: OK.
Me: Good.

…I clean up the bathroom, because I did find a towel that was mostly dry.

…sometime later…

Wing Nut (or E Nut, it really doesn’t matter): I gotta go to the bathroom.
Me: OK, I’ll unlock the door, but close it and lock it behind you when you are done, I don’t have time to stand here and watch you pee and wash your hands. Please lock the door when you are done so Little Nut Nut doesn’t flood the bathroom again. OK?
Wing Nut or E Nut: OK.
Me: PLEASE???
Wing Nut or E Nut: OHKAY!!

…I walk away and get back to whatever I was doing…

…sometime later…

Me, thinking to myself: Boy, it sure is quiet in here…ah how nice. Wait, it’s Too Quiet – as I walk through the house – Wait, what is that sound? Oh no, not again!
Me (rushing to the bathroom): Who is in the bathroom – Little Nut Nut, NO!
Me: Wing Nut and E Nut, please come here…who was in the bathroom last?
Wing Nut: Not me.
E Nut: Not me.
Me: Of course. Little Nut Nut flooded the bathroom again…when you are done in here, please lock the door behind you.
Wing Nut: OK.
E Nut: OK.
Me: Good.

…I clean up the bathroom, because I did find a few t-shirts in the laundry to clean up the water…

Little Nut Nut is getting one of those plastic sand and water tables for his birthday next month!