03.09.07
A Boy and the Shower
I’ve finally come to accept that my 10-year old son must be brain damaged. There were signs – he didn’t breathe on his own for the first week of his life, my darling friend Linda, a speech pathologist, gently pointed out at 18 months the fact that I understood his extremely complex grunt and gesture communication system did not mean that he was speaking normally, he spent half his life at school in remedial reading.
I was in denial. I clung to his 9o percentile plus scores on ERBs (standardized tests – well, except for spelling but what is spell-check for anyway?), his evaluations that said he was functioning at a 5th grade level in math in 1st grade, his obvious social presence.
This morning I walked into the bathroom he had just left. Looking at the pool of water on the floor I called to him that “that it is normally considered a good idea to keep the shower curtain in the bathtub.â€
He is a respectful boy. He paused for a moment’s thought (maybe it was a pause to finish his move on a computer game he shouldn’t have been on this morning, but I hope he was thinking about what I said.) “Why?†he asked.
Why???? I did not go berserk. I merely responded, “so that the water coming down the curtain goes in the tub and not on the floor.†(Did he not notice he needed a boat to get out of the bathroom?)
“Oh, . . . Sorry” was his reply.
Would it be a disaster if I blamed it on the male gene?
Lisa said,
03.09.07 at 9:09 pm
I was also thinking that my son, 10-years-old, suffered from the curse of the male genotype after several bathroom floods. Now that your son understands the purpose of the shower curtain, the boat can be docked–unless, of course, your husband forgets to keep it in the tub :).
Stephanie said,
03.11.07 at 6:28 am
Better shower water than some other liquid I often find after my boys have been in the bathroom! LOL
Christine said,
03.11.07 at 7:18 am
Nothing like leaving out the punch line. “Oh. Sorry.”
One can only hope it makes a difference Lisa.
(I had three brothers, Stephanie, I KNEW that was part of the male gene.)
kailani said,
03.12.07 at 3:50 am
You could blame it on the male gene but then it wouldn’t explain why my daughter does the same thing night after night. LOL!
Here from the Carnival of Family Life.
skeet said,
03.12.07 at 4:25 am
That’s the problem with raising boys. They insist on turning into little men with all of their nasty habits, lolo! Darn that genetic programming anyway!
Visiting from the Carnival of Family Life. Thanks for the smile!
Christine said,
03.12.07 at 7:41 pm
I personnally like that all the male gene comments by moms gets power tool ads by google.
Lisa said,
03.15.07 at 6:55 pm
Not at all. It sounds like the male gene coming out to me.
Here via the carnival of family life.