Chalk and Cheese Chronicles

The Tumbler as Urinal

For me, convenience comes by way of a blue plastic tumbler. At first it held ice cubes and water and was set out in the backyard for thirsty, rambunctious little boys at play. Now, it's been demoted a few notches and serves to hold the most lowly of substances, pee. Lowly or not, however, it has brought convenience to our lives, this blue plastic tumbler, come traveling urinal, housed in the middle row cup holder of our mini-van.

When my twin boys were still in diapers, I looked at potty training with trepidation. Potty training meant leaving the convenience of diapers and even pull-ups for germ filled trips to public restrooms and sketchy locations on the side of the road. As potty training moved along, I started carrying a Bjorn Potty Chair in the trunk of my mini van, partially to avoid accidents and partially because I was determined to not find myself battling two squirmy, disobedient toddlers in a public restroom. But my now 4-year-old boys have sort of outgrown the potty chair. They like to pee standing up. Ah, I tell them. Hold on! Pee in the cup!

I like to think I've got my public restroom phobia in check because we do use public restrooms. I use them all the time, in fact. I don't withhold and risk UTIs and things like that. My kids use them; it's just not practical not to. I no more welcome a potty accident than I do a trip to the cringe inducing public restroom.

Don't Laugh - I Flowbee My Boys!

We'd been talking about first haircuts, my friend and I, sharing notes, as usual, about the day to day minutiae of parenting twins. "My boys got certificates for their first haircuts, " I told her, explaining the whole kiddie salon scene of car stations and nooks full of toys. "Nope, " replied my friend, "we Flowbee'd our boys instead."

You did what to your boys? Is that even a verb? Sheepishly, my friend went on to explain that her husband had been (proudly!) using a Flowbee to cut his hair for well over a decade and was now thrilled to be able to use it on their young sons. (See him in action, here.) For the uninitiated, the Flowbee is a gag gift hair cutting system whereby you attach a special hose to your vacuum cleaner and basically vacuum cut your hair. Voila! No mess, no hassle.