Toilet Technology

I am all for the progression of technology, but there are times when all the advances in our daily lives bites me in the butt, or perhaps it would be better explained as spitting in my face. Let me explain.

Are there any other parents out there who have had this similar experience?
Kai needed to use the bathroom. So, being the good mom that I consider myself to be, I immediately escorted him to the bathroom. In this particular case, we were at the library, so we enjoyed the benefit of using a nice clean bathroom. We both squeezed into the stall meant for one person, my purse and bag of books taking up precious space. Kai gratefully leaned forward and peed into the pristine toilet bowl. I waited patiently, leaning my back against the stall door. When he finished, he turned around , needing some assistance with his pants. As I bent over him to yank the stubborn pants up over his tosh, the tiny red light above the toilet rapidly blinked three times, “Huh,” I thought. And before I could remind myself what that flashing meant, the white bowl erupted in a violent tsunami-like wave of automatic flushing.

The flush swirled with such vigor and force that sprays of my son’s dirty toilet water vaulted up and out of the toilet like a group of vagabond surfers riding a massive wave. Much of the water landed on the toilet seat, but a few drops did land, disgustingly, on my face. All of the air left my lungs as I let out the longest sigh in history. To say, “Yuck” just doesn’t do the experience justice.
Needless to say, I decided that afternoon that Kai must now always pull his own pants up. I don’t care if we are pressed for time; if he only gets them half way up his butt, or whines the entire time he works them back up to his waist.

I will not again find myself baptized in toilet water.