Sent by Pat Miller, June 12, 2000
I am a mother of three girls. Getting married and having children was my childhood goal in life. By the time I had my third daughter, my middle daughter was not quite two (but already acting two) and my oldest was three and a half. I loved them so much, yet there were some days I referred to them as “too much of a good thing.”
As any mother of young children knows, when the children are quiet, they’re either sleeping or in trouble. This one morning, I knew that the only sleeping child this time of day could be my baby. I was debating whether I should enjoy the silence or ruin my peace—and the girls’ fun.
Overridden by guilt, I figured I’d better go find out what those two… blessings… were doing. I could hear a noise. It was coming from the bathroom. As I got closer, I could see that the door was closed. I muttered, “Oh no, please not the toilet again!” Sure enough, when I opened the door I saw Candace and Charity standing around the toilet, dipping their toothbrushes in—and brushing their teeth! Not only that, but the toilet was unflushed!
(Hey, if you’re disgusted, how would you like to have been their mother!!!)
I hardly had any words to speak. As I snatched the toothbrushes out of their hands (and flushed the toilet) I stuttered, “W-w-what are you doing?!” Candace, my oldest, answered, “We’re brushing our teeth!” They both grinned at me. Hoping this was the only time they had ever accomplished this dreadful stunt, I asked, “You never did this before, did you?” Candace answered, “Oh, we do it all the time, Mommy. We do it with yours and Daddy’s toothbrush, too!”
The moral of the story: What you don’t know won’t hurt you; but when you do find out, it just might kill you!!