Bathroom Humor

Once during a visit to my grandmother's when I was about 10, I was surprised in the bathroom by my grandma's great niece who was a couple of years younger than me. I happened to be using the only bathroom when she burst in, asking me to get out quickly because she needed to go.

I vividly remember being both embarrassed and angry, probably more embarrassed. To this day I have bathroom issues - I don't like to share a bathroom and like many people, using one in a public place makes me slightly anxious. (Although I have to admit I am much less anxious after three pregnancies, during which I "eliminated" in any and all available bathrooms from Houston to Chicago.)

Anyway ... I think Sam shares a little of my anxiety. He is very private about bodily functions and using the bathroom. But today, his discretion backfired.

Sam, Jake and a friend were playing with soldiers in the den. I was folding clothes and needed to put away some guest bathroom towels. When I tried to open the bathroom door, however, it was locked. From the inside. With no one in it. I had heard a lot of running and door slamming while they were playing so I asked Sam, "Did something happen to this door?"

He immediately got defensive and I could tell there was a story to be told. Turns out, he needed to use the bathroom, but since Jake and Sam's friend were playing nearby, Sam had locked the bathroom door. Problem was, he couldn't unlock it when he was done. So, like any of us would do, he broke the screen in the bathroom window, climbed out and returned to his playdate.

"I didn't think you'd notice!" he finally admitted.

"You didn't think I'd notice that the bathroom door was locked? How is that possible Sam? I mean, it's so silly, it's funny."

So after a brief lecture about how I expect him to be honest and forthright with me in the future, he crawled back through the broken window and I talked him through unlocking the bathroom door.

I haven't told Bryon about the broken screen.

Maybe he won't notice.