Nice idea, but...

A couple of weeks ago I saw a fantastic idea on 'Book of Joe' : A toilet bowl light!

Here's the description from the web site:

Johnny-Light™
Unique Johnny-Light toilet seat floods the bowl with soft green light when the lid is lifted, preventing nighttime accidents.

Helpful for potty-training children and a great reminder to lower the seat when finished.

Uses 2 AAA batteries (included).

Fits standard toilets.

Plastic.

I see so many great things on 'Book of Joe' that I've started putting my wallet in the safe before surfing over to his site.  This item in particular whispered lovingly to my inner impulse buyer. 

But, once I started thinking about the need to disable the thing on Shabbat, and the inconvenience it would cause if I should forget to do so, well... the moment passed.   It really is a great idea if you think about it, but not at all practical for people who can't turn electrical things on and off for 25 hours every week.

However, in the on-again-off-again struggle to get Yonah interested in consistently standing up to pee in the toilet this toilet light idea got me thinking that part of the reason behind his intermittent interest (and random aim) might be that once a kid has done this trick a couple of times... the fun sort of wears off.

So, while not practical for our lifestyle, the glowing light in the toilet gave me another idea.  One day last week I came home from work after having given a Power Point presentation and had the idea of shining my handy-dandy laser pointer into the bowl to give Yonah something colorful to aim for. 

The results were better than anything I could have hoped for... spectacular even!   He was absolutely mesmerized by the colored light in the water.  The problem is that he started asking to stand in front of the toilet with his pants around his ankles all the time... even when he doesn't have to go.

Please don't think me a bad father...I love the kid to pieces... I really do.  I just don't have the patience to stand for hours in the bathroom, flashing the laser pointer into the toilet bowl while Yonah stands there with no intention of peeing!

Of course, the law of averages demands that occasionally a good thunderstorm is going to coincide with the performance of a rain dance. 

So it happened Friday afternoon. 

The moment I gave up on Yonah and turned my back to lead him into the shower with me... Yonah followed along and dutifully peed all over the back of my legs (yes, folks... it would seem that Yonah and I in the shower together is a recipe for comic genius).

So now what to do about keeping Yonah interested in standing up and 'taking care of business'?

I'm guessing there must be some middle ground between crushing ennui and fascination so intense that all excretory function is temporarily disabled.  Perhaps I should put the laser pointer away for a bit and use the old tried-and-true targeting device; Cheerios floating in the bowl.