Tyrus and Toilet paper...

Tonight after a worrisome silence which was brought on by Ty's extended absence when he had supposedly gone upstairs to "go potty," I curiously went to check on him and happened upon this scene...

I have been humored (and Ty's little bottom has been spared) the times when I have been able to step back in situations like this and take in the scene from the mind of a child. Tonight, when I paused a moment, I realized how, in the midst of what undoubtedly began as irresponsibility, Ty had attempted to remedy the situation quite responsibly in the mind of a 3 year old. Many moments in Ty's life have displayed his vast collection of tendencies---from thoughtfulness and sensitivity to destruction and adventure. Following is one of the best pictures I have to sum up Ty's personality that I took when he was a year and a half old. Ironically, it also has to do with an overuse of toilet paper. He loves to help and serve people. He may not always be neat and orderly about it, but when he sees a need he tends to it. And in this case, one of our daycare friends obviously had a runny nose that needed to be wiped.

But anyway, back to the situation at hand this evening. Of course I got the general idea of what had occurred as I scanned the bathroom but here is Ty's account of what happened. "I was wiping my bottom and all of the sudden all of the toilet paper got in there." (his words exactly) Then, securing his glove and beginning to reach into the toilet to retreive more of the toilet paper, he so seriously said to me, "this is the dirty part, can you help me?" I could only laugh and be strangely impressed at the same time. Because, upon taking a closer look I realized the following...(see picture below)

1. He recognized he may need towels and brought my basket of towels to the scene (even if they are my kitchen towels-ewww!)
2. He layed down the towels in the right spot to keep things "clean" and dry---Between the toilet where he was removing the excess toilet paper from in order to put it into...

3. His favorite cup (double ewww!!) which he used to collect the excess so as not to break the toilet by flushing that much toilet paper..

4. And lastly, my favorite part, he actually thought to get a rubber glove from our dress up box to keep his hands clean.

Oh little Ty, you are such a do-it-yourself little man. You have so much creativity and ingenuity inside of you. But, please be careful, you are only 3. I can still cook your eggs and iron your pants* for you. That's what mommies are for. And I love being yours.

*both things he has attempted to do-thankfully not getting to the "heat" part before I took over (while firmly instructing him of course;)