I spent my afternoon hours removing a diaper from the toilet, today. It is funny how quickly things can go wrong. My wife asked our son to dispose of a diaper in the trash. He took it and flushed it down the toilet. She called me to come see what “my” son did. In front of him, I had a stern face; alone with my wife, I couldn’t help but laugh. He is almost 7 years old. I expect more dumb things to come from that boy.
I was curious what cognitive process led him to think that a diaper would make it down the toilet, knowing that there isn’t much cognitive going on in a 6 year old boy’s head. In his defense, he said, “I’m just a little kid; I’m going to do things like that.” I must say that his logic is infallible. I can’t argue with that.
I tried using a wire coat hanger to pull the diaper out, but it would not reach. The toilet has a sharp turn that did not allow me to hook on to the diaper and pull it back. We tried the plunger, which I didn’t expect to accomplish anything; it didn’t. I did not want to have to remove the toilet, but that was our only option. Fortunately, toilets only have two bolts holding them down. I emptied the tank and the bowl manually with a cup. Thank goodness the toilet water was just water.
Once I removed the toilet, I tried to use the hanger to pull the diaper out the diaper out the bottom. I did manage to pull some of the gel from the diaper out, but it would take hours using that approach. My father-in-law suggested taking the toilet outside and using the water hose to flush the diaper out. At first, we tried doing that with the toilet on its side, but it didn’t work. Instead, we turned the toilet upside down and stuck in the hose with my father-in-law making a seal around it with his hands. That did trick. The diaper popped out the same way it went in.
After that, it was a matter of putting the toilet back. I re-seated the toilet on the wax ring, screwed on the nuts that hold it down, attached the water tank, and reattached the water hose. I gave it a test and everything seems to be working fine. I do need to recaulk the edge around the toilet, but that’s no big deal.
In my post incident interview of the boy, I asked him why he thought that the diaper would make it down the toilet. He said that he thought it would go down just like toilet paper. I told him that toilet paper shrinks when it is wet. He replied that he thought the diaper would also shrink. I informed him that diapers are different, they have a gel that makes the diaper bigger when it gets wet. I asked him not to do it again.
I might have been angry with the boy if what he did weren’t so dumb. Even now I chuckle about it. I can guarantee you that I will tell this story until the day I die. His kids will know about this. More than anything, I just hope he knows better next time.
Shaine 