There are subtle things about the human body that God has programmed into us. In particular, with toddlers and young school age children, the need to go potty. It always looks the same. One foot slightly off the ground, the hand pressing in on the lower abdomen. As a parent you some times can gage the intensity for the need to go by the duration and the height of the foot off the ground. I can spot other peoples kids now too. (Maybe this is my first supper power!) However if you ask the child “Do you need to go potty?” The answer is most likely “No”. But thanks be to God we know this is false. The level of activity comes into play here as well. A child can “hold it” longer if they are running and jumping. But don’t be fooled they are ticking time bombs.
Case in point. Disney Hollywood studios 2009. Mason and Mallory are playing in the “Honey I shrunk the kids playland”. Mallory quickly decided that her favorite thing was the Kodak film roll slide. It was neat; you climbed up thru the tube and slid down the slide, it looked like the film coming out of the roll. On her fifth or sixth lap I noticed it, the quick pause and lift the foot. Crista noticed it to. We both looked at each other as if to acknowledge that a rest room break would be needed soon. Meanwhile Mason is running thru an under ground worm tunnel, that goes who knows were, this had me more than some what concerned for his whereabouts. Thankfully Isabel was strapped to my chest, some day soon she will be right in the middle of this and I will have no hair. Then I heard the scream, it came from Mallory. She is standing at the top of the slide holding herself as the stream ran down the slide. I watched in what seamed like slow motion as it ran all the way down the slide. The slide had a slight turn in the middle that just added to the length of time it took to reach the bottom and the amount of coverage. At the bottom of the slide it began to collect to puddle got bigger and bigger. I turned and see Crista slowly lower her head into her hands. She then quickly grabbed Isabel’s blanket and went to wrap Mallory up and get her to the closest restroom. And while she was exiting I was tracking down the boy. Before I could find Mason, the staff had the slide barricaded. Soon, Mason, Isabel and I waited outside the rest room for the rest of our party. When Crista came out I could tell she was less than happy about the whole situation. I on the other hand was smiling from ear to ear, and as I later explained to Crista this was one of those lasting memories that will always be part of me. Some thing you can’t buy and some thing I am so glad I got to experience. Some thing I am so glad to finally be part of.
So what did I learn from this experience? Well let’s just say I don’t ask about the potty any more. Then the foot goes up I don’t even ask a just put a hand on the shoulder and tell them we are going to the potty. Oh sure they still tell me that they don’t have to, but they always seem to have some thing to do when we get there. So be mindful of the little things.
