Cause and Effect?

Noah, genius that he is, learned how to turn the faucet on in our Master Bathroom tub several months ago.  He frequently joins Scott and me in the bathroom in the mornings as we are getting dressed for the day.  

He has had a basket of toys next to the tub since he was 4 months old to keep him occupied - allowing us ample time for personal hygiene.  Of late, his interest in his basket of toys has dwindled as he has become far more intrigued with the tub faucet.  He used to just turn the water off and on, off and on, off and on... I often wondered what Gail, our downstairs neighbor thought I was doing in the bathroom while this was occurring.  

Then he seemed to decide he liked the sound of the water- so he would just turn it on and leave it on.  This, of course, made Scott gleam with pride on a number of occasions.  The ever Conservative, doting father- "you see, Janet" he would say, "Noah is already contributing to my Carbon On-set Program!"

His newest tub experience involves turning the water on, then tossing his once-forgotten toys into the tub to watch them float or get drenched.  I knew I had left them in the bathroom for a reason... Did you think it would stop there?  Oh, no!  Our ever over-achieving son has added such items as bathroom towels, floor mats, clean laundry, magazines, and our shoes for a bath.  Usually I walk in from my closet where I have been getting dressed to find him smiling enthusiastically as he reaches his hand under the faucet to watch how the water sprays over the shoes I plan to wear that day.  (No worries here everyone- he is no where near tall enough to climb in)

Not only has our bundle of joy added to the items which are thrown into the water, he has also moved on to different bodies of water...  Did you think your flip-flops were too good for our toilets?  Not in this house!  I assure you, Noah shows no discrimination when it comes to the type of footwear, nor person to whom the footwear belongs.  We have equal-rights toilets!  No shoe shall willingly go un-dunked!  For that matter, no cat shall either!

The folks at Safety First might tell you the toilet-lid secure-latches are to prevent your children from drowning, but I think they might have had cat and shoe-safety in mind as well...

The books all call this "cause and effect."  I call it a reason to remove all cloth from the bathroom and hide my shoes. 

Oh, and for any future visitors who leave the lid up- it is every shoe for themselves!