Mr. Clean to the...rescue?

Not that I needed one, but I found a new excuse to not waste time cleaning my house.

In a word: Noah.

This past week I actually did get to the laborious task of cleaning.

Namely, bathrooms.

Big mistake, apparently.

Maybe my problem was the fact that I did it in the company of Noah. Even though I'm thinking at the time it is a good thing for him to watch his mother keep the house tidy, that proved costly.

You see, a few days ago my little 2-1/2 year-old Wonder diligently watched me scrub the toilet clean. Spray the soap, wipe it down, scrub the inside, etc. etc.

Last night I put the children to bed and went downstairs to clean up the kitchen a bit. I heard some noise upstairs and double-checked the situation.

No worries - Caleb was just using the restroom.

So I didn't jump when a few minutes later I heard a bit of noise coming from the bathroom. Sounded like Caleb was probably just getting a drink before heading off to bed.

But then the noise continued, and I heard some odd clanging noise.

So I go take a peek.

Noah.

Not in bed.

In the bathroom.

"Cleaning" the toilet.

Earlier that day I had filled the soap dispenser in that bathroom with liquid soap. To the top, mind you.

The pump now lays next to a thick streak of soap on the counter. Meanwhile, Noah stands at the toilet bowl, soap bottle in one hand, soggy bits of toilet paper in the other. By this time, there is maybe a half inch of soap still left in the bottle, and the toilet is covered in an oozy mess.

I'm appalled at the clean-up I have ahead of me, so I pull the "cleaning supplies" from his hands, and after a scolding, send him back to bed.

As I'm wiping up the sloppy mess, I stop and realize what he was doing.

It's what he always does in this stage of his development.

He mimics.

He probably thought he was doing ol' mom a favor, after all. Givin' her a helping hand, as it were.

He probably crawled back into bed completely confused.

Whoops.

Poison control centers are always saying to keep those cleaners out of a child's reach. But I don't know...if I left him the correct supplies, maybe I wouldn't have to clean another toilet for awhile.

Just a thought.

Now if I can just get him to pay better attention when I do laundry...