The Princess and the pee

I'm sure lots of you know my dear hubby, RJ, is very into woodworking. He mostly makes furniture for people for gifts. Anyway, he subscribes to a few magazines about woodworking and one of his favorites is simply called "Wood". When he gets his Wood magazine, he pages through it and tags the projects he find interesting. That way when he feels like making something, he can simply flip through the tags in his archived mags (he has 2 hanging cabinets in his workshop dedicated to magazine storage) and easily find projects. Very organized!

(Ok, ok, I promise I'm getting to the story soon here. Just hang with me...)

Before the magazines end up in the archive cabinet, they are usually strewn around the house. Some are in the bathroom, some on the end table, but one unlucky magazine (a.k.a. issue 187, Oct./Nov. 2008), which was already read and tagged, happened to be on the floor the other night. Believe me, I know this issue well now.

Most moms know the best way to cure a diaper rash is by letting the little rugrat run around for 5 or so minutes without a diaper (and therefore without pants) each day. (I know, stick with me a little longer.....)

Our little Hailey happened to have a bit of diaper chafing on the very night that issue 187 found itself on the floor. Issue 187 was tucked half under the couch right where RJ was sitting when diaperless Hailey approached her Daddy with a book in hand. She stood attentively by the couch looking at the pictures in the book as Daddy read to her.

Not long before the book began, we heard a strange noise. I'm sure you all know where this is going now. I looked across the room and saw Hailey tinkling right then and there with one foot anchored on poor issue 187. Besides issue 187, the couch, rug and floor we also hit.

We kept the tone calm being careful not to scare Hailey or convey to her that she was "bad" (I hear kids can get a complex about going to the bathroom if their parents scold them for having accidents. I mean, it's not really an accident when you're not potty trained. It's just doing your thing...totally not her fault).

Soon after this Hailey went to bed. RJ was at first upset about the fate of issue 187, which ended up in the garbage. It just couldn't be salvaged. I assured him I would order him a new issue. He countered with the fact he had already taken the time to go through the mag and tag all of his projects. I offered to put on rubber gloves and go through the mag and write down all of his tagged page numbers (for some reason I felt responsible for issue 187's fate). Luckily he declined.

The good news: Wood magazine is sending us a replacement for issue 187 free of charge. I think the customer service lady got a kick out my story of how issue 187 became "damaged".