We had ourselves an unconventional Family Home Evening Monday night. And while it was not derived from the standard works or topics typically discussed during lesson time, I do believe it will prove itself to be one of our more important moments of instruction.
We were finishing up dinner. It was a usual calm meal and by calm I mean Nic was dancing around the table every couple of bites, Matthias was attempting to throw his cup of milk across the room, Anthony was begging everyone to be quiet, Clayton was reading a book, and Isaak was making random noises. Just your standard evening meal. Clayton slipped away for a few moments to use the bathroom and upon returning began his cross examination to discover the criminal that had soaked the bathroom with water.
I found myself thinking, how not unusual that the bathroom is covered in water but is it possible that just once my dear children could wash up without a water fight? I realize I'm asking a lot though because who wouldn't want to douse their brother? It's one of those moments of temptation that a boy cannot withstand.
As I bring myself back to the moment I realize that the water is not the kind that comes from the sink. Oh yes, my dear friend, the water I'm speaking of comes from the throne!
I race my bootie upstairs to step into a half inch of standing water with additional water cascading from the rim of the toilet. I plunged (pun intended) into action. "Nic get me the toilet thingy (i couldn't think of the name of it), and I need towels stat!" I quickly dislodged whatever was preventing the the correct direction of flow. This of course forced more water out which caused me some internal duress. But that concern quickly dissipated as I watched the water level decrease and the toilet begin to function as originally designed.
The next step was an attempt to remove all standing water. Towel after towel was brought in. Each towel fought a good fight and held more water than had ever before been required. I then brought out my mop and some water with bleach added and mopped the place twice. Three loads of laundry and a good scrubbing for my toes and it's as if it never happened.
As I worked on clean up I listened as Kjel gave the kids our Family Home Evening lesson on... 'how to correctly flush a toilet and not walk away from it until you are certain everything has gone down and exited our home.' The lesson detailed the process and included a special tip on how to stop the water from continuing to flow if by chance something goes wrong. Of course, nothing will ever go wrong.
In honor of this blessed night we've instituted a new law to be strictly enforced. We're taking the lead from the Bush administration and have titled the new law, 'No poop left behind.'
We finished up with a treat of ice cream with mini snickers bars plopped on top. Yes, I do mean plopped!!