Cheerios

By: Claire Clark

The following could be classified as “I couldn’t make this up if I tried.” If you have a weak stomach, you should probably stop reading. Girl moms take note. This is pure boy living at its finest.

Boy #2 had no interest in potty training. None whatsoever. At the age of 3 1/2, he finally started going on the potty. Eventually, he mastered the toilet but was still sitting to pee. I had read somewhere to use Cheerios for aiming practice and filed it in my brain as a clever incentive to encourage boys to stand while urinating.

It was time. I grabbed a couple Cheerios and followed my blonde son into the bathroom. Boy #3, age 20 months,  followed after me. I placed one single Cheerio in the toilet. Wasn’t I so clever, so fun, so smart? In short, no. I was not.

Boy #2 did pee on the cereal. We cheered. “Good job! You did it!” But then Boy #3 did the unthinkable. He reached in the toilet and ATE the pee-soaked Cheerio. I stared in disbelief. Did that really just happen?

Yes. Yes it did.

What can you do? Sometimes, there are no words.

At least urine is sterile.

Claire is a 2000 graduate of Vanderbilt University, where she studied art history and psychology. Now a stay at home mom of four boys, she enjoys thrift shopping, girls night, Mexican takeout, reading, and home décor blogs.