Unavoidable

My sister, who was eight years younger than I and four years younger than Ken would occasionally wander into the bathroom when my we were standing to void into the commode. We usually didn’t lock the bathroom door. The older people in our house knew that if the door was closed, the bathroom was in use and would not come in.

One day Mom walked into the bathroom, the door wasn’t closed. Kathy was standing in front of the commode holding her “outsie” belly button and was peeing down her legs. She had seen the boys doing it. She was crying, because she couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t able to do the same.

So Mom had to take the time to explain to her that boys and girls were made differently and that she would have to sit when she went to the bathroom.

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Like most toddlers, Kathy went through a stage where she would peel off her shoes, socks, pants, and shirt. She would run through the house clad in only her diaper or her panties. When she wore her underpants, the seat would sag and be baggy. When my dad saw her, he would say, “It looks like a family moved out” because of the extra room in the seat of her pants.

Her appearance earned her the name of “droopy drawers.”

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Mom stored purses and hats in the bottom drawer of the tall dresser in her bedroom. Kathy would often go into the bedroom, pull out that drawer, and play with the purses and hats. Sometimes she would amuse herself for more than an hour. We have one picture of her with a pork-pie type hat on her head and a large purse hanging on her arm. The best part was she was wearing a pair of large framed sunglasses that had slid down and was perched on the tip of her nose.

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Talking about purses, when I was younger Mom had just bought a new purse. I don’t think she even had a chance to use it. I was younger and curious.

Taking a pair of scissors, I cut the handles. I don’t know what I was thinking of when I did it, but I cut them.  I do know that after Mom found out, I was thinking I would never do that again. She gave me a reminder that lasted for several days. She wanted me to be sure that I wouldn’t do anything like that again.