Mum Does Rhyme With Plumb…

And now for a glimpse into my glamorous life… Bless him for trying but the other day as my three-year-old

Who, me?!

son was “taking care of business” his curiosity got the better of him. Iʼm still trying to get the facts straight but hereʼs how I think it went down…

In the process of his “clean-up” he must have finished the previously half-full toilet paper roll and then added the cardboard tube as well. And since it didnʼt completely flush the first time, perhaps letʼs try flushing again. And again. And again.

By then there was a good inch of water on the tiles surrounding the base of the toilet and I was in there, rubber gloves donned, bucket in one hand and plunger in the other. Fortunately, Iʼve had my share of practice unclogging toilets after a couple of gDiaper fiascos, so I knew exactly what to do. I turned off the water at the source and began scooping water from the overflowing toilet and dumping it down the sink. Once I got the water level down as low as possible I began plunging. This is not the right venue to describe exactly what began floating to the surface with each successive plunge but letʼs just say it was not pleasant. Unfortunately all of my plunging was still no match for my little guyʼs handiwork so out came the wire coat hanger (not a good idea as I nearly got it stuck in one of the loop-de-loops at the back of the toilet).

Next came The Snake, also to no avail. The only thing I could think to do next was to dump a bunch of baking soda and vinegar down that plugged up hole and see what would happen. It was just like a Grade Five Science Fair experiment, minus the paper mache volcano and food coloring! We taped off the entire area for a few hours, deeming the site toxic, and went on with our lives.

Later on, once the kids were in bed, my husband and I decided to spend some quality time delving into the world of plumbing. Well, it seemed that my little science experiment was successful. A few plunges later and the toilet was flushing and draining and filling again beautifully! I think if you had been there and listened carefully you just might have heard the angels singing! My only regret is that my husband is willing to give me all of the credit. This might say a lot for womenʼs liberation but there are certain traditional divisions of labor that I am more than okay with!

I have now made sure that each of the toilets in our house comes equipped with a pack of Nature Babycare Flushable Wipes. Iʼm hoping that this will prevent future temptations to use wa-a-ay too much tp that will jam things up. And hereʼs hoping he doesnʼt decide to take his matchbox cars to the carwash any time soon…..