Semantics

September 19, 2009 on 8:38 pm | In Bett's, Funny Kid Stories | 1 Comment

The main bathroom was occupied when Eli had to pee tonight.  After being told several times to go downstairs, he finally decided to walk toward that direction.  Less than a quarter of a minute later, he walked back.  n8 was the first to notice something was not right.

“Eli, where did you go potty?”  Eli looked up at him with a shy, part-proud, part-shameful smirk on his face.  Silence.  n8, louder this time: “Where did you go potty, Eli?”

“Don’t worry about it, Dad.”  Such as statement has only ever achieved the opposite effect.

“Eli. Where did you go potty”–very sternly that time.

“Don’t worry about it, Dad.”  He shrugged his shoulders and bounced his body in an attempt at nonchalance.

“E-li”–rising stern voice– “Where. Did. You. Go. Potty.”

“It’s okay, Dad.  It’s not a big deal.”

“Show me.”  Eli shuffled across the kitchen floor and stopped in front of the stairs to the basement.  “Where did you go potty, Eli?”  A small, brown, little-boy hand jerked next to Eli’s body.  n8 repeated his question.  Without moving a muscle anywhere else in his body, Eli’s pointer finger aimed at the basement door.

“Where?”

“Open the door,” he whispered, and scuttled backwards, covering his bottom.  n8 opened the door.  Well, Eli had peed downstairs.  However, when we said, “Go potty downstairs,” what we meant was, “Walk down the stairs, turn right, enter the bathroom, lift the lid, and pee IN THE TOILET,” NOT “pee on top of the stairs.”  Semantics, semantics.  He is three months away from turning four.  I feel like this should not be happening.