Since the beginning of the year the emphasis has been on resolutions and smaller and more organized spaces, I thought it was high time I gave credit to the second bathroom. I know you are all wondering why, I, who loves small spaces would be writing a post on the necessity of a second bathroom. Well this is my thank you to everyone who entertains me with their humor, here’s a little humor from my life.
One trend that amazes me is the master suite. I have never wanted more than one bathroom to clean, I hate cleaning bathrooms, but there was one time I was thankful the apartment I was renting had a master suite, oh the luxury of that second bath. Today I want to share a story with you at the expense of my eldest son. I don’t think he’d mind as it’s still a story that won’t go away.
We had relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico in the summer of 1992. I had graduated from college with my job search taking me 2/3 of the way across the country.
When you make a large geographical move you will find things about each area that are different from what you are used to. For us there were quite a few, some good some not so good. The master suite was one of those new things that hadn’t arrived in my home state, yet. The other new thing we had to contend with were cockroaches.
Even this picture grosses me out
These were not your little cockroaches, these were called sewer roaches which were found to be closer to 2 inches long, and would walk up into your home from the sewers. I wasn’t afraid of roaches, but am rather disgusted by them, they really are gross to me.
I would keep all drains closed if possible, never used the dishwasher that was there (another thing not common in my home state, yet). But you couldn’t do anything about the toilet. So it wasn’t uncommon to find one swimming around in the bowl, most usually in the morning.
Now my eldest son was 7 years old and in first grade, and he was deathly afraid of these roaches, no matter how often you reminded him they wouldn’t hurt you.
My son was a very deep sleeper, upon rising in the mornings he would make a mad dash tot he bathroom, and it better be free to use or you could find him outside doing his business, it was that bad.
This one morning I woke him for school, he walked, okay ran, into the bathroom and let out a blood curling scream. There was a roach on the floor next to the toilet. It was upside down, which is how we usually found them when dead, so I convinced the dancing boy to use the bathroom then I would get the roach.
As I turned to walk away I heard another scream coming from him. As I turned back I took in a scene I will never forget. My son was in the process of relieving his bladder when the roach flipped over and began walking. My son couldn’t stop what he was doing but was running back toward the door to leave.
I didn’t think, I slammed the door on my son and told him as soon as he regained control of his bladder I would open the door. Hey, I didn’t want to have to scrub the carpeting in the hall!! This made him even more upset to be closed in a room with a cockroach.
By the time he had regained control of his bladder he needed a bath, which is where the second bathroom came in. Why you may ask? Because in his fear of the cockroach, and his inability to regain control of his bladder he had jumped, run, who knows what, around the bathroom. I had urine dripping from the ceiling, over the shower curtain and in every nook and cranny in that bathroom.
We have never had two bathrooms again after that apartment, and I was perfectly happy to live in a home which had the normal number of amenities I was used to……but for that one morning I was overjoyed to have a second bathroom.
Oh, you want to know how my son felt about the incident? When he tells the story he ends with “My mom emotionally scarred me for life that morning.”
I hope I’ve entertained you today, now for a little seriousness. Here’s what we found tossed this morning into the dumpsters.
Three pairs of brand new khaki shorts, my guess they were Christmas presents someone didn’t want. Luckily for me, they are my eldest son’s favorite style and size.
ugh, I hate cockroaches! nasty dirty things. I could tell some of my own stories! but not as funny.
Love to hear them, There are really only a few things I can’t stand those and rats! Poisonous things I try to avoid, but I’m the one still outside catching snakes. Glad you enjoyed the story at my son’s expense.
OMG – what a story! I think I would have freaked out too if a dead roach suddenly came to life next to me while I was peeing! I’ll bet that was one fun bathroom cleanup job!
Do you ever read Beth Terry’s blog? http://myplasticfreelife.com/ She lives in California and apparently their building has had problems with rats coming up through the sewers into the toilets. NOT kidding! I guess this was exacerbated by the fact that she was using flush-able cat litter made from wheat, and before flushing it, you had to let it sit in the bowl and soften a bit. I guess the rats smelled food and came up to investigate.
She told a story about opening the toilet lid and seeing a tail escaping down the drain and I haven’t been able to get the thought out of my brain since… especially when using the toilet! This is made worse by the fact that one of my cats, for reasons unknown, only likes to snuggle when I’m sitting on the pot! I fear his snuggle time has been greatly diminished since I read Beth’s story though! It’s pretty hard to focus on a purring kitty when all the while you’re envisioning rats crawling up to meet your naked privates!
I felt bad for my son while I held tightly to that door knob but there was no way I was cleaning up any more mess. Yes I do read Beth’s blog but missed that story. Thanks so much for the nightmares I may now have tonight.
Seriously, I fear rats big time. My grandfather is to thank for that fear. He, not liking that I was a tomboy, would tell me stories of growing up so close to the lake of the rats that came into the homes. He would say mice aren’t too bad, but a rat will attack without provocation. He would tell of finding rats in baby cribs and biting the babies while they were trying to sleep. I never could get that picture out of my head.
A few years back a friend asked me to watch their pets while they were on vacation. The dog stayed with us and I would stop by her home to feed the rest of the animals. Cats were outside so I just had to replenish food and water, of course I had to watch because upon seeing me the one cat would bring me a present of a scorpion it caught. Then there were the sugar gliders and the hamster. THEN there was the one daughter’s pet rat. She had rescued it from a science lab and asked me to give it plenty of love when I fed it. HELL NO! My son loved watching me trying to stick my hand in the cage for the food dish while trying not to be touched by the rat. It was quite comical I guess.
What a funny story–it is always great to start the day with a laugh. I am so glad we don’t have cockroaches or other vermin here. All we get is the occasional bat, which makes the cat happy…
Glad you liked the story, my son is usually the first to tell it so I wasn’t worried he’d be upset if he learned I shared it with everyone.
You are indeed lucky. I love watching our bats, but haven’t as yet ever had one in my house. In college, we used to have them flying down around our heads in the early hours in the buildings, didn’t bother me but I got my laughs watching other people run and scream if one came near them.
Oh my goodness! I’ve got tears in my eyes! Oh thank you for the laugh! My daughter and I appreciate it.
I’m glad you and your daughter enjoyed the story. I can enjoy it today, but cleaning that bathroom was nothing to laugh at. A bathroom is a pain to clean normally with all the little spots to get into, but that day was a challenge. I kept thinking if I missed a spot it would attract even more roaches.
I used to live in New Orleans where we had giant roaches also and I have lots of stories to tell about them. However, none quite like the one involving your son.
I don’t think I could ever live in New Orleans, I’ve heard horror stories about the bugs down there. I have a few more too, but none that comes close to that morning. I’d love to hear your stories if you ever want to share.
“Ew, ew, ew,” screaming me, as I’m standing on a chair! Crawly things — ugh!
You can come down from the chair, the “bug” is long gone.
I laughed so loud – nearly wet myself! ha ha
Ah, Jean, thank you, that’s what I hoped for
I don’t like roaches, we have a strange bug here called a stink bug. If you kill it, it smells really bad. They are poor flyers that often crash and land on their back wriggling their legs in the air, that is until some kind person rescues them….. and throws them out of the window.
We have stink bugs here too. It’s always a mad chase to try and stop the little one’s from killing them, like they do other bugs and spiders, as I don’t want to have to deal with the smell later.
I don’t mind having one bathroom usually, but the one we have in this house is so small! Closing the door is a challenge, having room to bend over to pickup something on the floor means stepping out and stretching your arm back in. One bathroom, but make it a big one! ( in my experience, also much easier to keep clean)
Great dumpster haul today! To get the writing off the glasses, try armor etching cream or scribbling over with an engraving tip or diamond grinding tip on a dremel-like tool. It will permanently texture the glass, but you are crafty enough to make that part of a cool design. Can’t wait to see how you repurpose your treasures!
I couldn’t help but laugh. My youngest son’s only bathroom in his house is tiny like yours. You have one step in and that’s it. He likes to joke that he can sit on the toilet and brush his teeth and put in his contacts. His wife says she can do one better, from sitting on the toilet she can brush her teeth and shave her legs in the tub.
Mine isn’t much bigger, but it’s split up in a way that you have some breathing room.
I’m seriously considering just taking the pitchers and shot glasses to the thrift shop as all are plastic, but I’m still thinking of re-purposing the shot glasses. Can you imagine a wedding where not only is drinking the main attraction, but the pitchers and shot glasses are all plastic? I hope they have good memories, but not the wedding I would want.
Oh, that multi tasking from the toilet is No Joke…it is a necessity! As for the wedding, wow. Not only ashot-glass wedding, but a plastic one at that! I used to be a DJ, and I’ve seen all kinds of receptions that I would never have associated with any reverence for getting married. But I do love that we are free to choose our own way of expressing ourselves here. Viva la difference!
I agree to each his and her own.
I can’t even begin to imagine what you may have seen as a DJ. Glad you can joke about your bathroom as my kids do about theirs.
Yikes! I’ve never lived in a place that had a lot of cockroaches. Apparently other places in the world (Australia?) have problems with venomous spiders that like to hang out under toilet seats, resulting in some rather dangerous and embarrassing incidents. My spouse and I are spoiled — we live in a condo that has two bathrooms, so we share the shower and otherwise have our own bathrooms. We could do without, but don’t see a point in moving just to deprive ourselves of that luxury.
No lol, I wouldn’t move just because you have two bathrooms! If your home works for you and it happens to have a second bath, oh well. I grew up sharing a bathroom and just got used to it, like not having a microwave or dishwasher. For me the big issue is how much I am willing to clean, and a second bathroom is not something I wish to have for that reason.
Not sure if Yikes is the best word for spiders that hide under the toilet seats, but thanks for keeping the comments G-rated
When I lived in Arizona, we not only had the roaches, but also the black widows, rattlesnakes, gila monsters, and scorpions just to name a few dangerous things we had to watch for, it was too much of a difference from what we were used to. At least we only encountered the roaches in New Mexico.
Hehe! That made me laugh
I’m so glad. Other people have entertained me with their humor I felt it was time I shared some laughs from our lives.
Very funny story, I could really visualise it! If you want to tease your son about cockroaches, you can tell him about my friend John. John likes to keep a glass of water on his bedside table in case he gets thirsty during the night. One night, in the dark, he took a big swig of water only to discover a large cockroach in his mouth……………..
Oh my god!! That just gave me chills up my back it’s so gross. I would have been violently ill from that. I hope he learned to keep a lid on that water.
Luckily we’re not having a cockroach plague this summer in Melbourne!
Do you have cockroach plagues? When we lived in Arizona, cockroaches were again a problem to deal with. For the most part preventive measures kept them out of the house, but we did have a couple. You should have seen my youngest son and I chasing one and being grossed out by trying to catch and kill it (because we also knew if we stepped on it we’d spread the eggs) his girlfriend (now wife) who was afraid of most every bug had no problem with roaches, she had grown up with them finally shook her head, came to our rescue and told us we were nuts to be afraid of them. But you should have seen her scream and run from everything else.
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