Nemo Goes Swimming {A Toilet Story}

A little background:

Our house was built in 1962 and I think we have had the original toilet in our hall bathroom.

Our hall bathroom is the most heavily used by visitors, and it's also the "girls' bathroom" because I don't like the stall shower in the master bathroom.

We got a new toilet in the master bathroom when we moved in, less than a year ago.

We have a third bathroom in the basement that is rarely used, unless someone is staying with us.

My brother stayed with us last week until early this morning.

And there was a full moon and a child who doesn't fully understand consequences.

Early Father's Day morning, the hall bathroom backed up.  This isn't terribly surprising but is a big pain since everyone had to use the master bath.  We scheduled a plumber for the next morning.  We knew we'd replace that toilet at some point soon, and we figured that would be the plumber's recommendation.  The four of us used the master bathroom to get ready for the day.  I put Ellie on the  potty, and when I left she was brushing her teeth.

I changed my clothes and realized she was still in our bathroom.  When I entered the bathroom, her toothbrush was nowhere to be seen.

"Ellie, where's your toothbrush?"
"I flushed it down the potty!"

I tested the toilet.  It flushed, albeit a little slowly.  We decided to see if it worked throughout the morning, and if so, we'd keep the plumber's appointment for the next day.  If not, we'd  call for a same-day appointment.

We went to church.

Later on, we made breakfast and went for a short hike.

In the mess of the broken hall bathroom, Matt had moved the girls' bath toys into the master bath, including a set of "Finding Nemo"/"Finding Dory" themed squirt toys.

Matt walked into the bathroom and from the kitchen I heard, "Ellie where is Nemo?"

I heard little feet run to Matt.

And then...

"DID YOU FLUSH NEMO DOWN THE POTTY?!?!?!"

I'll let you guess the answer to that.

"Why did you flush Nemo?"
"Nemo was takin' a nap in the potty and I flushed him!"

Shocker, but the upstairs potty stopped working.  I changed the appointment to same day, canceling our plans to go out to Father's Day dinner.  We ordered pizza.

We ended up replacing only one toilet (the old one) and the plumber, while unable to retrieve Nemo, believes Nemo has now been on a journey through the pipes and out to sea.  (Oddly, I think it's been a few years since Ellie watched "Finding Nemo.")

It wasn't until a very long time out and a very long talk that Ellie really understood that "flushing random items down the toilet" is in a different category of naughty than sneaking a cookie or taking a toy from her sister.  It's a very expensive kind of naughty.

Happy Father's Day, Matt.

I hope you like your new toilet for the girls and the unclogged, fish-free toilet in our bathroom.