She Gets it. She Gets it Not.

Anyone who has spent any time around little kids knows that from time to time they say or do things that can make you cringe. After reading one father's tale, I know better than to accept a "cup of tea" unless I predetermine from where the water was obtained.

My daughter, Abby, can generally be trusted in matters of the potty, but at four years old, she still does not grasp the idea of "if an item touches something dirty, then that item is now dirty, too - at least until it is properly cleaned, if it is a washable item." Likewise, once said item is dirty, EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING it touches is just as dirty.

Abby has some cute little pink princess gloves that she loves to wear. I have had to tell her every time she goes potty that she has to take them off so they don't get dirty. She's starting to understand that, if only on a procedural level.

That brings us to this quiet Sunday morning. Earlier today, I noticed her gloves sitting on top of a box in the bathroom. When she brought them to me and asked me to help her put them on, I didn't think anything of it. I just assumed she had taken them off and forgotten them in there yesterday.

As things always go with little ones at this age, as soon as I got the gloves on her, she had to go potty! I gently reminded her that even though it would be disappointing to take them off JUST as she had gotten them on, she'd HAVE TO take them off to go potty or they could get dirty.

Sharp little girl that she is, she instantly agrees with me, and even goes so far as to share a quick little tale to show her understanding. It went a little like this:

"Yea, they fell in the toilet yesterday."

< SHUDDER >

Next lesson in germs: even though they are now DRY, they LOOK clean, and you can't TELL that they were in the toilet yesterday, the gloves are still FILTHY!!!