Lisa the Plumber

One of the best parts of Josiah being three is that he can now handle most of his own personal hygiene issues with only minimal supervision. He can mostly handle all potty chores, dressing himself and even putting on his own shoes if he has the right motivation (playing outside).


A draw back to this new freedom is that he does not always use the appropriate amount of toilet paper.

Yesterday morning he was using the potty when I heard a strange noise, followed by a frantic call for help. Water had overflowed the potty and was pouring all over the bathroom. I quickly turned off the water supply and started mopping up the mess with bath towels. When the water had drained a little from the pot I tried using our plunger, but to no avail.


Dan has been working long hours the last few weeks on a project at work and I knew he wouldn't be available to look at it. Last night, on the way home from church, I called my dad for advice. One option was to rent a snake and have Dan crawl up on the roof to snake out the drain. Yesterday it was 68 degrees here, which wouldn't have been so bad, but today it was 32 for a high. Brr!

So today Josiah and I headed to Lowe's for a new plunger. As we came in a man asked if he could help us.

"We need a new pwunger," Josiah stated.

The man looked at me, confused.

"We need a new pwunger," Josiah said a little more emphatically.

"Right this way," the man said as Josiah confidently took his hand and walked with him.

"What kind of plunger do you need?" the man asked me.

"I fwushed too much paper," Josiah said, sadly.

"Oh, you need a potty plunger. Which plunger do you like?" the man asked him, stopping in front of a display with more kinds of plungers than I had ever imagined.

Josiah picked one that the man said would be the best for the job and we headed to the front. We had one stop to make to get duct tape for a separate project and Josiah insisted on carrying everything. I told him that he had to hold my hand. He solved the problem by putting the duct tape on the handle of the plunger and off we went.

At the cash register he insisted on lifting the things to the register by himself. Our cashier was nice and took his scanner down to Josiah's level. Josiah told him the he was going to fix the potty.

We came home and after just a few plunges with the new super plunger the potty gurgled and flushed with more pressure than it has in a long time. Josiah has promised not to use too much paper!