The day Ivan decided to decorate with toilet paper was going along according to schedule. When I get home from aerobics, the munchkins get snuggles and a trip outside. Then I’m off to take a shower. I’ve learned to take the munchkins in the bedroom with me while I’m in the shower or else Ivan roams the house, finding ever new and imaginative ways to entertain himself. I leave the bathroom door ajar because they like to make sure I haven’t washed away. Ivan often sits on the bathroom rug and waits until I get out of the shower.
On that day I said “Hi Sweetie” when he came trotting in, and thought how nice it was that my sweet boy wanted to keep me company. Ivan grabbed the end of the toilet paper and raced out the door with it. “Ivan.” “Ivan!” I could see the toilet paper rapidly streaming under the door. By the time I rinsed the shampoo out of my hair, the entire roll was gone. As soon as I turned off the water, Dasa peeked worriedly around the door. I assured her I knew she was a good girl and had nothing to do with this.
The bedroom looked just as one might imagine it would when a little basenji boy decided he was being neglected. Ivan was standing in the midst of a snow storm, indulging his habit of eating paper. He seems to prefer regular printer paper, but was making do with Charmin at the moment. I scooped up the sea of Charmin as quickly as possible so he couldn’t eat even more. Ivan is so much fun; his ingenuity and complete lack of remorse made me laugh all day. Ivan had never unrolled toilet paper before, never even shown an interest, but my poor neglected child wanted his mom’s attention. I think his method of getting me to notice this sorry state was clever, funny, and impossible to resist. So I laughed and snuggled my babies and apologized for not spending every single moment of the day with them.
After Ivan discovered toilet paper as a means of communication, he decided to employ it at his discretion. This resulted in our current practice of posting little signs on the empty dispensers, pointing to the cabinets where the toilet paper must hide.
But he looks so harmless in that photo you included with your story.
ReplyDeleteMy B-boy does the same thing with the TP, including eating it. All our bathroom doors are closed and guests are told to make sure they close the doors as well...I understand the unrolling of it, but consuming it?? Funny little creatures.
ReplyDeleteThis is truly hilarious. You should write a book about the exploits of your basenjis. Reminds me of a cat (Red) I used to have who always unrolled all the toilet paper if I went out and left her for any length of time. At least she did not shred it.
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