Wednesday, March 24, 2010

toilets are hard to get to...in my house

Warning: Both pee and poop are discussed below. What can I say??? Life with RAD...

Wow. We've gone over 4 years with little to no toileting issues. You would think with my kids being almost 11 and almost 12 we'd be out of the woods on that one. But, that's a negative. It's all exploded lately. I often say that when one RADish is on the down swing, the other is on the up...not this time...or this issue. They are both in the crapper (yes, that's supposed to be a joke).

We've had smelly issues for a couple of months surrounding DS2. He's had a different odor since coming home and sweats badly for a younger kid. We talk about taking care of your body, soaping good, we've bought special anti-persperants and reminded him gently to wear it every day. However...lately it's been more pungent. I had checked his room - assuming the worst and it was like a game of hot and cold. Needless to say as I did laundry last night I found all his clothes wet and smelling of urine. Then we checked his room more thoroughly...he's been peeing in his trash can, his laundry hamper and saving the best for last - all over his carpet. I mean all over. Leaving his door shut is not an answer anymore -the smell has permeated our house and I'm sick. New carpet is in fast order and we have not budgeted for that in any way. But, the bigger issue is WHY?

As you probably know if you are raising a RADish or even a challenged child in any way - that question - WHY - is pointless. My kid can't put thoughts together to answer that - or honestly, he doesn't know why. But, it blurted out and his answer was "it's too hard to get to the toilet sometimes". Really? The bathroom is directly to the left of his door. I mean maybe 10 steps from the furthest reaches of his room to the toilet. That's hard? Maybe a porta potty should be installed beside his bed - it couldn't smell much worse in his room. Yes, think of that grossest potty you've ever been in and that's about the smell we are dealing with.

DD has the same excuse for not using the toilet for #2. She just doesn't have 'time' to get to the toilet. It takes too long. She has literally made herself sick becasue she won't go. For weeks at a time. So, I'm now pumping her full of laxative (per her doc) and monitoring when she goes. That's fun. I'm really pleased with the announcements of poop. I feel like I did when DS1 was first learning to potty...maybe a potty dance is in order.

That's life around here for now...a condemned bedroom upstairs and trips to watch my daughter use the toilet. The fun never ends...now, if we could only find a toilet that is trained to walk right behind you. Maybe then my kids would not have such a hard time getting to it!

5 comments:

  1. Our DS2 used to pee on the carpet right outside the bathroom door. The best was when he went pee behind the entertainment center, shorted out the wiring, and started a small fire. Now an adult, he's admitted he did it because he was angry.

    Both DS1 and DS2 wrecked their rooms. We made the decision we would not replace or repair anything. If the carpet smelled, it was pulled out and they lived with the subfloor. Holes were punched in walls, either they repaired them, or the holes stayed. After DS1 moved out, we totally gutted his room, put up all new drywall, new carpet, and replaced the closet doors where he had carved "I hate Mom".

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  2. I think you are right, there is no good answer. I love, LOVE the idea of a toilet following them around, LMAO!!!

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  3. Well I suppose you can be thankful it's in the privacy of your own home and not on the beach with lots of people around. Yeah...that was a bad day...poop running down the leg, her wiping it, me asking if there was something she needed to tell me, her saying no, DS being absolutely mortified. It wasn't the first and it wasn't the last. Her job is to clean the toilet now BTW (since she goes all over it...and the wall).

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  4. We went through almost exactly the same thing, at almost exactly the same age, with my younger RAD son. Trash can, laundry hamper, and carpet. Both trash can and laundry hamper were removed from the room (I think I even took all of his clothes for a while, and gave him an outfit each morning, exchanging it for pajamas at night), and the carpet was ripped out and replaced with CHEAP stick-down tile. At least that way, the urine didn't hit wood directly and soak right in. We also put a bucket in his room that he was welcome to use to pee in if he didn't want to have to clean his floor, and he got to empty it in the bathroom each morning and carry it around with him ALL day at home, just in case he needed to pee and "couldn't make it" to the bathroom. Luckily for us, it stopped fairly quickly as he got tired of the hassle on *his* end. Wish I could promise the same for you! (((Hugs)))

    KB

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  5. Ya know, I forgot to mention something in my comment. We had M wear a pullup for a while. Told her we wouldn't want the kids at school to make fun of her if she had an 'accident'. We had her wear one if we were going some place special too, so it couldn't get messed up.

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