A Time Honored Tradition

This morning I opted to take Georgia into the bathroom with me.  The two older girls were playing in the living room.  Taking her with me was a better choice, otherwise I would have to wonder what the screaming in the living room was about.  This way I knew if there was screaming it was only Sonya harassing Lana, and not Sonya trying to carry the 11 month old baby across the hard wood floor.  

I gathered up a few toys and her sippy cup and placed her on the ground.  She seemed content because she was hanging out with me.  She looked at her toys and decided she'd seen all those things before.  It was time for something new.  She hit my leg a few times, before she looked up and noticed that interesting roll of something on the wall.  Then she wondered if she could reach that magnificent looking thing.  She reached up and yes, yes she could get a piece of it and what do you know!  It pulled down and and kept going!  Was there no end to this fun new toy?!  

I watched her do this, because she looked fascinated and I couldn't bear to ruin her fun.  At some point all babies discover the toilet paper roll.  Most of the time it's when you aren't looking and you walk in to find the floor of the bathroom covered in toilet paper and the roll swinging empty on the holder.   I had such a picture hanging in my bathroom right after college.  It was NOT a piece of art and Andy hated it, but I just thought it was too damn cute with the baby in the diaper covered in all that toilet paper.  Once we moved in together, that picture found it's way to a new home via a garage sale, but I still remember how cute it was.  I couldn't wait until one day when I had my own kids to do such silly things.  What a stupid childless person I was!  I missed the part of the picture where the mother walked in to the bathroom after cleaning up the kitchen and folding the last load of laundry to find yet another mess to clean up.  Not to mention the waste of paper.  However, I was there to monitor this particular situation and make sure it didn't get out of hand. 

Georgia had a good time pulling it down and ripping into pieces.  I did cut her off when she tried to eat it though.  I mean I have to draw the line somewhere.  Eventually, bathroom time was over and I gathered up what she had pulled down and took it away from her.  She looked at me, stuck out her bottom lip and started to cry.  I had apparently,  took away her most favored possession.  We have three kids worth of  toys in this house, but she cries when I take away the toilet paper.  I picked her up, walked out of the bathroom and she forgot about being upset.   The damage has been done though.  She's been introduced to the fun with toilet paper, so I'm sure I'll walk into the bathroom one day to that scene that was in the picture I once had.  

And don't worry, environmentalists, I didn't let the toilet paper she did pull down go to waste.