Definite Peace of Mind

Since the mercury has been on the rise lately, often reaching triple digits, I've been letting the boys do a lot of water play. Yeah, we have a pool and it's great; don't get me wrong, but sometimes it's just not practical. Getting out the swim trunks, arm floaties and collection of swim vests, life jackets and whatever other flotation devices my boys depend upon just isn't always appealing. Like I said...it's triple digits out!

Anyway, good ole water play with cups, buckets and a water table seems to do the trick. The boys are entertained and cooled off at the same time. I feel so bad when their little cheeks are rosy red from the heat.

Now, I'm not a fan of water guns. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with them, per se, but I simply don't care for them. So I thought the boys needed an alternative; same concept just different packaging. I decided to let them use some extra water bottles we had around. In theory this was a great idea, but hindsight will bite ya in the butt every time. You know what I mean?

One of the bottles was a plain bottle just like the one I keep on hand to wet their hair before I brush it. However, the second bottle was an extra window cleaner bottle. It had never been used (I mix together my own cleaner from a concentrated formula) so I figured there was no harm in letting them have it. Do you see where I'm going with this?

Long story short, they have been enjoying spraying each other and even dumping the water out over and over again. One day, my youngest one discovered that the safety latch on the cabinet under the kitchen sink was broken. I knew it was broken, but I wasn't too concerned about it. After all, every cleaner I keep under there is non-toxic and safe for the boys to be around (I just keep it locked so they won't get into anything and waste it!). Needless to say, he immediately found the cleaning bottle that resembled the one I let him play with.

When I came around the corner, he had completely drenched his whole head and chest. Window cleaner was in his hair, eyes and mouth, but he had no idea what he had done. As I mentioned earlier, I only use non-toxic cleaners in my home-no bleach, no phosphates, no harsh chemicals. So for him, except for the pleasing smell, it was as if he had just poured water all over himself. Desired result achieved! He stood there with his "Look-what-I-did, Mommy" grin and ran off giggling. All I could do was turn away so he wouldn't see me smile. Wasting mommy's cleaning products is not an acceptable thing to do, right? I say it beats a trip to the emergency room.....definite peace of mind!