Water sports

I'm wondering at what point, exactly, the toilet seems to "appear" to a child. It's like the first 18 months of their lives, there is no such thing; then one day, there it is, like they've never seen it before, and with the sudden realization that it exists comes the fascination with putting things in it.

I will never forget my nephew's fascination with putting things in the toilet (thankfully, at almost 13 years of age, he has outgrown that). He loved to put stuff in there, but my two favourites would be the toothbrush belonging to his dad and grandpa's keys, that we thought had taken the plunge (as in their absence and Will's presence, we could only assume the two went hand in hand). Thankfully, the keys were found elsewhere... but not daddy's toothbrush. His dad was not pleased to say the least.

I have managed to thwart a few attempts to dunk stuff in the toilet, but Sam's much loved monkey has bathed in the tush tub a couple of times, and a few other smaller things. I thought we had moved on, but he proved me wrong this week. Apparently a lot of bodies in the house plus too few baby gates equals Sam playing in the toilet. And in a matter of days, we went from throwing bath toys in the toilet, to face cloths, a toy broom, a toilet paper roll, and then, Sam himself, up to the elbow. Actually, his pants, socks and shirt were ALL soaking wet by the time we found him, blissfully oblivious to the fact that he was doing something just terribly, horribly gross. I mean, really, that's got to be at least 10 times worse than nose picking or the "I have to pee" grab.

I am not sure, other than keeping my bathroom doors closed all the time and (consequently) listening to "(knock knock) Is anyone in there?" all day long, how exactly to stop the fun and games associated with the toilet. I guess that's all I can do at this point, because when I try to tell him 'no', and 'yucky', he smiles and hugs me (with his yucky toilet hands), and by the time I have him all bathed (in the actual tub), dried and dressed, all is forgiven and forgotten. Maybe by the time they're 2 the fascination wears off? Here's hoping!