Joys of Parenting

Today began as most days do for us—early. We had a short morning at the house, as we were heading to Gubei’s Carrefour and the City Supermarket—both at least 40 minutes away, and so we had to leave early. Of course we were not up longer than about 30 minutes when the joyful moments of parenting began—Danny, who is working on finishing up potty training, took a step back after having a successful day yesterday. After dealing with that situation, I had to quickly call our cable company back home (they charged our credit card erroneously for the month of March and then proceeded to tell me that they were going to keep our money for another 6-8 weeks before sending us a check—gotta love Comcast—terrible service and they take your money too!). Once off the phone with them, I had to clear up a fake charge that hit my business credit card that I have not used since 2007. Thankfully, American Express has quality customer service and were actually a delight to talk to on the phone. It was quickly resolved and I was on to face the upcoming shopping.
Normally, I do not mind shopping, not even grocery shopping, but the travel time to and from has become an issue as Josh has taken to screeching in the car at a very high pitch. This normally would not bother me too much as I could ignore it in my own car, however, with the driver I feel pressure to have the kids behave at all times.
Thankfully, the driving to the store went extremely well as did the trip home again. The shopping also went well, and I was able to find a lot of items that I had wanted to get. (I even found a squirt bottle—I was searching for one to fix the boys’ hair in the morning). I had wanted to take the boys out for lunch as we were getting back a little late. Yet, with the driver I was unsure what he would do for lunch (as he does not eat many of the places the kids would like) and then there is also the difficulty of the language barrier. So, I decided we would put the food away and go to the clubhouse for lunch. This worked out great except for that the wait for the food was long and Josh was hungry and tired (a few more incidents of high pitched screeching). Thankfully, overall the boys behaved very well and the staff was kind enough to bring the boys’ food out first.
Danny waved to a women and her son (10th grade) across the room, and when they were finished they came over to talk to us. They were so very nice and said that if we needed anything to give them a call or e-mail. They were from Detroit and her husband had gone to Purdue. They have lived here two years and will be leaving in July. This is actually their second assignment as they were in Malaysia some time before. She also works at the American School. She handed us her card and I was excited to see it was actually the family’s card. Apparently, the Racquet Club creates cards for its members so you can easily exchange your information.
After lunch we headed back to the apartment for naps and ran into one of the other lady’s I had met at the park. It was so nice to meet a new friendly individual and also have someone else say hello as well. I got the boys settled for naps and began working on pictures of the apartment. They were at first talking and laughing but then became quiet. I was relieved that they had finally fallen asleep. As I was working on the pictures, I heard what I thought was a toilet seat fall down. I also thought I heard the boys talking once again. I went into their room to find out what was going on, but found they were not in their beds, or on the floor near their beds. I called out for the boys as I know that they did not leave their room. Danny voice called back happily that they in the bathroom. He said it just as happy as can be, as if this is where all boys that should be taking naps go to play and it is perfectly acceptable. When I open the door, I am faced with total destruction of the bathroom. There is water on the floor as well as wet pieces of toilet paper all over the floor and cabinets. They are both wet and I am not sure if Josh has had his head in the toilet or not. It is clear that they have taken all the paper from the toilet paper roll and been shoving it down the toilet and then flushing it repeatedly. As I stare at them and the mess in front of me, the only thought I can think of is that Josh could have drowned in the toilet. The second thought I have is how to clean up the mess. We have no mop (except the one we used to wax the floor) and more importantly we have no plunger. Needless to say, I got as much cleaned up as I could, closed all the doors, stuck them back in bed and called Dustin. (Look for part two in this saga—Dustin’s entry to see how this resolved)
Overall, this incident today has brought me back again to giving thanks to God—first and foremost that he kept the boys safe during their fun with the toilet and second for His grace, which through His grace I may be able to better handle the situation should something similar arise in the future (let’s just leave it at that the neighbors probably know what my voice sounds like at this point), and for God’s faithfulness in allowing us opportunities each of these past few days to meet individuals who are not just warm and welcoming, but are willing to help total strangers in whatever way they can.