When the plumbing isn't hooked up....

and you repeatedly tell the child NOT to flush the toilet, he WILL flush it. Well, at least mine will. We were at work yesterday, at the home I babysit at. Well, when we got there, there were several diggers and trucks of assorted sizes all over the yard and driveway. They were finally getting their sewer installed. It has been in progress on their street for the last few years now, and yesterday the men had arrived to work on the K family's house. Four or five guys were in and out of the house and had said NOT to use the water. No toilet flushing, no using sinks, etc. So I was left there with my 4 year old and the kids I watch: girl-11 and boy-8. All was going well. Until my son went potty. I reminded him not to flush and stood outside the bathroom door so that as soon as he stopped peeing, I could remind him again not to flush or use the sink. (thank goodness for Purell). Only, before he was actually DONE, he flushed. I screamed at him and ran down to the basement to warn the workers that toilet water/pee may soon be descending upon their heads. Unfortunately for me, but extremely fortunate for them, they were outside at the moment. When I got down to the basement, water was coming out of the pipe. Onto the floor. I spotted their big bucket full of tools and dumped out the tools and used the bucket to catch the water. Whew. I wasn't sure how long water would continue to flow out, so I yelled to the kids to GET THE GUYS. The kids just sat upstairs. I think we need to work on this a little...they knew there was a problem, I was yelling for help, and nobody would stop playing computer to help. gaaahhhh!!!

The carpet was a bit wet. I soaked up the water with some old towels, which of course I washed (later-after we got the all clear to use water!), dried, folded and put away. My son cried off and on during the day, worried that people would be mad at him. I kept reminding him it was an accident. He begged me not to tell. Well, I made him tell Mom K, and she kind of laughed. No big deal. She was planning on getting the carpet cleaned anyway, because the guys had been a bit messy.

So the kid learned a lesson...not to hide from his mistakes, but that it is better to admit them, apologize, do what we can to fix the situation, and move on. People may just not be as angry as you think they will. Besides, who could be mad at this little dude?