10 October 2008

I Hate This Week

Riley just flushed a plastic piggy down our only toilet. I never let the kids have toys in the bathroom. It's a rule. But we had just gotten home from a really fun dinner out, Riley asked if he could take his piggy into the bathroom to watch me flush (one of his favorite things in the world to watch, oddly enough), I figured "What the heck?", and it slipped out of his hand and into the bowl just as I pushed down the handle.

Great.

Poor Riley was horrified. "My piggy! MY PIGGY!" he wailed.

I was horrified. "Our only toilet! How much is this going to cost me?!" I wailed. On the inside, of course.

Plumber has been called. I await the callback. In the meantime, I'm waiting to start the endless loads of laundry that await my attention, I'm refraining from doing dishes, and I'm hoping I don't need to pee.

Of course this had to happen on a Friday night, so there's no way to wait until Monday—and non-emergency plumbing rates—to deal with it.

Just when I thought this week was over.

I'm now going to go do three hours' worth of math proofreading. With my legs tightly crossed.

[EDITED: My friend Jen came over with a plunger, which didn't help out at all. But! She also came with the phone number of a friend who is married to a plumber. I'm very poor at asking for help, and I hate making phone calls, especially to people I don't know very well, but desperate times call for desperate measures, so I got over myself and dialed. Paul the Plumber was very helpful, and walked Jen and I through a few tests that determined that piggy is on his way to the waste water treatment facility. So now laundry is swishing away, dishes can be washed, and I'm going to get to my proofreading. As soon as I pee.]

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dude - pee in the shower. It's the #2 you have to worry about.

Steff said...

you gotta get a plunger....just in case of toilet paper overload during potty training...seriously.

Lee Anne said...

LOL at you and at Joy! At least you are finding humor in the situation. I guess you aren't a Grey's Anatomy watcher? Probably a good thing given last night's episode. Have a good weekend!

Anonymous said...

Poor Riley! All I can think is this is going to prolong the potty training.

Remember that movie, Look Who's Talking? The monster toilet ate his piggy!!

Melissia said...

And a toilet snake available at any home improvement store if the plunger doesn't work. Both together will be much cheaper than a plumber, especially on the weekend. But the first question should be was it a solid plastic pig, how big, or a squeaky one? Could it be dissolved with chemicals? Do some research on the internet ( in your spare time!)and you may be able to save yourself some serious money and aggravation as if it was small enough it may have already have gone gone to the main sewer pipes. Good luck!

Sally said...

Math proofreading? What do you do? (I'm a new reader). I'm still deciding what I want to be when I grow up and am scanning the internet for suggestions.

Anonymous said...

I think you need a warm, buttery cocoon.

Snickollet said...

Sally--

I'm the manager of a proofreading group at a publishing company. I also write and edit. I'm better at writing and editing than I am at proofreading, but the current job is giving me an opportunity to work on my proofreading skills. Or that's the positive spin I try to put on it.

-snick

Anonymous said...

Maybe the plumber is cute??? :)

Anonymous said...

:) i have a friend named paul the plumber too! they are good to have around!

watercolordaisy said...

Glad you don't need to pay a plumber. Hope the weekend goes better.

Keen said...

My kids are currently wreaking all kinds of havoc at our place, so I feel your pain. Glad there was a happy ending!

Kathryn said...

Glad of the happy ending...In our case, it was Hattie Gandhi's much prized first baby tooth that went down the loo. No plumbing crisis, but the ensuing grief from a little girl who thought that the tooth fairy would drown looking for it was more than traumatic enough.
Breathe
Have a glass of wine and a peaceful and happy weekend.

Ian Newbold said...

Wishing you a smiley next week, and I hope there is a severe lack of kamikaze toilet pigs

Anonymous said...

This little piggy went to the water waste treatment facility...this little piggy stayed home...
Too funny!

Julia said...

Friends make the world go around. :)
Have a good weekend.

Jen said...

I was all for peeing in the baby potty although standing back up might have been a challenge! I think we're going to hit Shattuck's today to get a REAL plunger.. that one I brought just blew.. or sucked.. or neither..

Anywho.. glad I knew paul.. I'm often glad that I know paul. I'm sorry I didn't make that phone call for you.. i don't know what i was thinking. i have an automatic shutoff when it comes to the telephone.. my brain just explodes and i become a bumbling idiot.

Had fun at the library this morning.. sorry we had to bail a little early.. ben was having an allergic reaction to something in the room AND he was ready for his nap quite early.. it was a really great event.. i loved the guy that was leading the group.. i didn't understand a word anyone was saying.. it was a hoot.

OH.. you linked to me! Giovanna is going to be soooo jealous! She brings you liquor and I just bring you a plunger that doesn't work.. :) I can't figure out why the link won't work for me though. weird.

Ok.. we have to do battle with a mousie.. will talk to ya soon!

Anonymous said...

Hey Snick,
It could be worse! Funny toilet story...

My nieces are 8, 3, 2..all girls, small ones potty-training. My sister-in-law was working on a clay project with the 8yr old and turned her back for one minute while the others were playing in the next room.

The little ones went missing and she found them in the bathroom. The 3yr old had used the toilet and they were both elbow-deep playing in the not flushed toilet. She washed their arms and sent them to time out.

Instead of time out, they went to the kitchen and destroyed the clay project the older sister was working on.

=)

Have a great weekend and fun dates!

Unknown said...

hey, random reader that you don't know here. I love your blog and following your, oh-so-honest-and-real, journey. Wish I knew you in real life!!

Frogs in my formula said...

Last Christmas our niece and nephew flushed their paper cups down the toilet and clogged it. I know all about the internal wail! Your blog is hilarious--I'm glad I found it.

Jodi @ SNAPPED said...

A great friend of mine shared this tip with me:
They were on a LONG drive out west and she really needed to pee, but there was NOWHERE to stop. Out of desperation, she peed on one of the clean diapers she had in her diaper bag. Total absorbtion and no mess.
Even though my kids are potty trained now, I always keep a spare or two in the van for just such an emergency!
:)

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry that this is my first comment, but please! can you post what Paul said to do to check out whether flushed items were on their way or hanging around in your pipes? Thanks!

Snickollet said...

Anon:

Re: how to check to see if the flushed items were stuck somewhere in the pipes, I can only give you a partial answer as I was dealing with a screaming child for the first few steps while Jen handled toilet duty.

Paul had Jen take the lid off the tank--he needed to know what kind of workings were in there. Then he had her flush--I think she held the flapper up, but I'm not sure. Then when everything seemed to flush OK, he had her flush down a sizable handful of toilet paper. When that went through no problem, he proclaimed us all clear.

I'll see if Jen can give more of an explanation.

-snick

Anonymous said...

Toilet problems on a Friday night were definitely the last thing you needed. glad you got it all worked out!

What A Card said...

Re your comment on my site, I was going to tell you Barb's husband was a plumber, but I saw in your original message that you'd already called one! Glad all worked out in the end, though that poor lil' piggie!

Anonymous said...

i think i know this plumber of whom you speak...small world. (okay, maybe not so small since WaC knows said plumber as well and i found my way here from her blog.)

anywho - glad to hear this little piggie is safely on his way to the treatment plant and more importantly, you are free to pee!

Pam said...

Snick,
So sorry about Piggy, but I almost spit my drink all over my computer when I read it. Mainly because I have a two year old and I can see and hear the horror in Riley's voice, not to mention the pain you were feeling thinking you needed a plumber on a weekend.
Poor Piggy.

Hope your weekend got better.
Pam

Anonymous said...

Lost a Tamagochi down the toilet not that long ago. And it had only just been fed, as well. Straight flush though.