Fishing!

Usually when I ring the bell at mealtimes, my little "Pavlov's dogs" come bounding down the stairs. This time Daniel and Hannah were nowhere to be seen (or heard). I thought that was a little strange, so sent Rebekah to find them and tell them it was time to eat. Finally when Nathan called them they came.

Nathan asked Daniel, "Did you hear the bell when it rang?"
Daniel: "Yes." (Looking like he was guilty and wondering how he could tell us the truth and still avoid ending up in trouble)
Nathan: Why didn't you come?
Daniel: We were playing (Hannah is soberly nodding her head in agreement).
Me: Were you playing in the bathroom? (This has been an unhappy trend lately.)
Daniel and Hannah: Yes.
Nathan: What were you doing in the bathroom?
Daniel (fearfully): Playing in the toilet.
Nathan: What were you playing in the toilet?
Daniel and Hannah (excitedly): We were fishing! With toilet paper!

We decided it was best not to ask what they were fishing for....

Partners in crime and best buddies

This was not the first such event, unfortunately. Daniel seems to have an obsession with toilet paper. A few weeks ago we found him with a mound of toilet paper in the sink. He was trying to dissolve it and wash it down the drain. Unfortunately that resulted in a very clogged drain! That didn't bother Daniel and Hannah a bit though. It took us a while to realize that every time they washed their hands they were filling their bathroom sink to the brim and playing in it. If Daniel is obsessed with TP, his little sister is obsessed with water.

Almost every Indian bathroom has a bidet (hose with sprayer). That is a big attraction with our resident 2-year-old who loves to spray anything and everything while she's sitting on the toilet. She's also fascinated with the toilet itself. She's tried to "clean" the toilet before, sometimes using the toilet bowl brush. The morning of the day they had been "fishing" in the toilet, Hannah had been playing with the brush, and hitting Daniel in the face with it. Ugh. 

Needless to say, all of these activities have been outlawed (spoil sport parents that we are)! Now if we can just help the two and four year old memories remember that. It's amazing how sharp their memories can be when the want to remember something, and how dull they can be when they don't! Daniel isn't likely to put any more TP in the sink, however. Last week Nathan decided it was time to clean out the drain, and took Daniel along to help. Daniel got the job of pulling all of the wet, dirty toilet paper out of the pipes (and there was quite a bit). He didn't care for that at all, and Nathan made sure he understood the connection between cause and effect.

Life is never dull with these two around!