A couple of times a week my neighbor’s 6-year-old boy rides the bus from school and stays with me until his mother gets off work. Yesterday when he came in, he immediately went into the bathroom and was in there for quite some time. This is not normal behavior for him; he’s a talker, and usually the smallest action by him is accompanied by a lengthy conversation about what he’s doing. He has never before gone into the bathroom without making a major announcement first. He did not take off his backpack before going into the bathroom and was still wearing it when he came out.
After he left, I went in the bathroom and found that there were small brown nugget-like things in my sink. I don’t think that the child used the toilet because he never flushes when he does, and the toilet was clear. At first I thought the stuff was mud, and I ran water to wash it down, but it sort of stuck to the sink and wouldn’t freely wash off. I finally wiped the sink clean with T.P., which I flushed. Then I sprayed the hell out of the sink & counter with clorox, I took all the towels to the laundry room, and I thoroughly washed my hands.
I can’t imagine what happened, and I’m not at all sure I really want to know.
Well, just be glad you didn’t try deep-frying them.
The next time he’s over, just ask, non-confrontationally, “[Child’s name], what was that you put in my sink the last time you were over? I saw them, but didn’t know what they were” or suchlike.
He might have had some critter in his backpack that he wanted to look at badly. You know, make sure it’s ok, and also ooh and ahh over it. Turtle? Maybe, but I don’t know the properties of turtle poop all that well. Ask his mom if he’s brought home any wildlife from school.
He definitely would’ve said something about a turtle or other animal.
Also, when he arrived he was eating some kind of candy/toy. It looked like an ice cream cone, and when the base (cone) was twisted, some gooey red candy came out the top. He took this into the bathroom with him. When he came out, his brother (whom he hates) saw the candy and demanded a taste. The 6YO gave the whole candy thing to his brother.
He might not have mentioned about the turtle if he thought somehow he’d get into trouble for having it in his backpack? Maybe his mom isn’t freaked out by wildlife, but has cautioned him against picking it up so he won’t get bitten, or putting living things in bags, so in his mind he wasn’t telling so he wouldn’t “get into trouble” when it wouldn’t have been a big deal in an adult’s perspective? Kids that age do things like that. Mabye he didn’t want his little brother to know about it, he wanted to keep it to himself? Still sounds like a reasonable theory to me.
Ask his mom if he’s brought home any critters lately, worth a shot to solve the mystery, right? I don’t think it would be an “accident” on his part, because you didn’t mention toilet paper in the toilet, or used poopy washrags… Still, it sounds like poo of some kind to me, and small animal poo at that. I should know, I’m fond of critters, I just don’t remember what turtle poo looks like very clearly. Hope it wasn’t mouse or hamster poo or some such. Hmmm, his school doesn’t take turns letting the class hamster come home with students overnight does it?
Having just cleaned a similiar mess off of my son’s hands today after a trip to the grocery store, I’d venture a guess and say it might have been a handful of melted M & M’s (which despite their claim otherwise, DO indeed melt in your hand).
Or maybe Hershey’s Kisses?
At least that’s what I’d convince myself it was if I found a mess like that in my sink.
I’m pretty sure it was not a turtle or other animal. We live in the country next to a lake, and the kids could go outside and get a turtle or frog within a couple of minutes. The parents would not be thrilled about a small slimey animal in the house, but it wouldn’t be the first time.
The caption for the turtle poop picture says the poop is 4" long! (and someone paid $9 for it). What was in the sink was about 10 small dabs of what could’ve been dark brown mud. The largest was maybe 1/2". There was no noticeable odor. I suspect that there had been more of the stuff in the sink and what was left was the result of an incomplete cleanup. After I saw the sink, I also had the feeling that his behavior had been based on shame.
His brother is older (8) and is kind of a jerk who pushes the younger kid around and takes things from him. I sort of hope that there was poop on the candy.
The kids know nothing at all about drugs. They had “anti-drug week” at school and came home accusing me and their parents of doing drugs because of cigarettes and alcohol. I told them that although tobacco and alcohol were not things they should be doing, that the people at school were talking about illegal drugs like marijuana. The kids went, “What’s marijuana?”
So much for drug education in our schools.
Greywolf73 :smack: LOL yeah, that fits too. It might just have been chocolate of some kind! That would also explain why he gave up the other candy so easily. Sly fellow ate the “good stuff” in the bathroom, had it all to himself, and gave the “okay” stuff to his little brother. That makes sense as well. So, casually ask the kid what his favorite kind of candy is? If he says chocolate, you might have your answer.
I’m going to assume it was chocolate. The kid’s school sometimes has a little shop where the kids can buy candy and cheap toys right before they go home. This is probably where he got the twisty cone candy. Other times when he’s gotten candy from the shop, he’s always had more than one thing. I bet he got something he really wanted and didn’t want his brother to see it. The little rascal must have been chomping at the bit on the bus ride home, waiting to taste that candy. And I’m sure he was pleased as punch that he figured out a way to keep it from the brother.
