So, for today's offering, a brief glimpse into Son-Two's life as an almost 23-month-old--as well as a brief glimpse into my own life as a 23-year-old mother of three children three and under.
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Wednesday, November 20, 1991
Today--Son-One came out of his room and said, "Where did Son-Two's Weeble go?" Having just heard the toilet flush, I had a pretty safe assumption where Son-Two's Weeble* had gone. I plunged and poked and prodded and prayed and finally, the toilet was flowing normally again. Alas, we shall never see the Weeble again. But the loss is minor compared to my panicked imaginings of the backyard being dug up to remove the poor, wobbly plastic dude from the sewer pipe.
*For the record: this kind of Weeble:
...as opposed to the similarly-sized, but smooth-sided and infinitely-more-flushable version apparently being produced today:
Of course, for sheer flushability, not to mention choking hazardousness, there was no beating the '70s version, which was similarly egg-shaped and only about a third of the size of the current model.
Having raised three sons during the same time period, I am amazed that I had to google and read about weebles for the first time. Not for the first time, however, is the shared reflection, that nothing produces quite the same feeling of panic, as the thought that there is "something wrong" with the septic system. Just shoot me now and get it over with.
ReplyDeleteP.S. November 20 is the birth-date of my third son Lito, short for Nathanielito, a derivative of Nathaniel. I used to speak Spanish to the boys (y los perros y los gatos, y los pollos…) so I called him Little Nathaniel, in Spanish, and it got shortened to Lito. As a 26 year-old engineer for Cal-Fire, he is still known as Lito.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the laugh! It reminded me of a time I was taking a shower and the toilet flushed. I peeked out and saw my 3 year old standing there staring at his underwear swirling in the toilet bowl while his 1 year old sister flushed. I couldn't help but laugh!
ReplyDeleteThis will show my age- my aunt used to leave messy diapers in the toilet to soak.(You know, before the advent of disposables.) One day, at Grandma's, she'd done this and my nephew flushed. Oh, Grandpa was MAD! Here at our home with 6 boys, we've had the plumber out a couple times to retrieve non-flushables.
ReplyDeleteI want to say thanks for getting the "Weebels wobble but they don't fall down" thing stuck in my head. . . : )
ReplyDelete"Weebles are the most maddening of toys" says my 4-year-old self.
ReplyDelete"The toilet is not a toy!" says my mom self.
I am in complete agreement with you on the tediousness of marveling at the passage of time, yet not being able to stop marveling. I find myself saying things I promised I never would say: "I remember changing your diapers!" to pre-teens, etc. Shame on me.
Not sure why, Mark, but I loved hearing about your son's name. I speak French with my children and will be beginning German with the eldest soon.
ReplyDeleteMM, Oh boy, I remember both weebles (from my older siblings), and trying to flush them! So so true that the flushability of toys must be taken into consideration with each redesign. How often do kids choke on toys really? Flushing happens EVERY DAY.
Only slightly off topic: One of my nicknames is Weeble. Because I weeble and I wobble but I don't (often) fall down.
ReplyDeleteIn short, I'm a klutz.
PS No one has ever tried to flush me...that I can recall.
Jane: If your comment is off topic, then my discussion about Lito's nickname, must sound like French to cdnkaro. Thanks MM, for the forum to exchange pleasantries with others.
ReplyDeleteI remember! Weebles wobble but they don't fall down. Sigh. Today my daughter turns seventeen. Where do our babies go? And why does it happen so fast?
ReplyDeleteI still have the weeble that my youngest smashed into his older brothers head....oh the memories!
ReplyDeleteEveryone's flushing stories have inspired me to consider posting a slightly more disturbing story involving something that shouldn't have been flushed...stay tuned. ;)
ReplyDeleteYoungest Sister, consider it repayment for the extreme hilarity you got at my expense when the outpatient clerk at the hospital quoted that commercial regarding my rotundity (and unsteadiness on my feet) during my first pregnancy.
Okay, so I have to admit that WAS my first thought. : ) Still makes me giggle. "Oh, don't worry honey, weebles wobble but they don't fall down. . . "
ReplyDelete