Never a Dull Moment

The girls were watching cartoons this morning after breakfast, Natalie was fluttering from one toy to the next. I told Charlotte I was going to run up to take a quick shower before we set out on a few errands. I pulled the door to the downstairs bathroom shut on my way upstairs. I put the gate up at the bottom of the stairs.

Natalie can open doors now.

During my race against the clock, right as my shampoo was getting sudsy, I hear shrieking. I turn the water off & call downstairs, "Charlotte? What's going on?"

"Natalie trapped herself in the bathroom!" she calls back up to me.

I tell Charlotte to let her sister out of the bathroom & I ask if she pinched her fingers, since the crying seems frantic. Charlotte says no, her fingers are all okay. I holler down that I'll be out in just a minute.

I can hear Natalie crying at the bottom of the stairs. Crying hard enough that she's not even calling "Mimi." I rinse my hair, grab a towel, and find Natalie standing at the bottom of the stairs. I pick her up to check her over & right as I notice she's wet - her socks are wet, her pants are wet, parts of her shirt art wet - Charlotte points and laughs, "Look, Mommy! Natalie has wipes stuck to her feet!"

And then I see it. And the puzzle pieces all fall into place. Not wipes, guys. Wet toilet paper.

And it's not only all over Natalie's feet, but it's in the carpet on the bottom step. And there are clumps down the hallway. And puddles. And smears of other stuff.

Because three-year-olds don't remember to flush the toilet when they're done. Or at least mine doesn't.

"Natalie spilled water in the bathroom and now we have a water slide in the hallway!" Charlotte says. And I see the feet of her jammies are wet. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

You see, Natalie used the potty for the first time earlier this week and has since been trying to climb into the toilet at any given opportunity. I thought closing the bathroom door would keep her out of it for 5 minutes. Wrong.

So I haul Natalie up to the bathtub then haul Charlotte up to the bathtub, the whole time saying "ew ew ew ew ew ew" and cursing myself for not showering last night after they went to bed, or for not being one of those moms who set an alarm for 6:00 to get a shower before the kids wake up. I'd made sure the food was done - no choking! I'd made sure the stairs were blocked - no falls! I'd made sure the bathroom door was shut! Not enough, guys. Not enough.

The thing that kills me is that it happened so fast - literally 90 seconds from the time I put the gate up and went upstairs. It could have happened while I was in the basement running a load of laundry. Or taking a trip to the mailbox. Or making a phone call in another room. I'm not allowed even 90 seconds to put my attention elsewhere. At least not while they're awake.

On the bright side, my bathrooms and hallway are the cleanest they've ever been!