Forgive the “toilet humour” but a recent blog about the perils of using public conveniences has reminded me of a funny story from my son’s childhood. Peter had a lot of speech problems as a child. At the age of 4 he was often hard to understand. For much of his babyhood I had been a solo parent, and he was not used to having a man about.

 

I had just started dating again. The new man in my life bravely offered to take us to the Pizza Hut for dinner. Part way through the meal Peter announced that he needed to use the toilet. My date volunteered to take him.

 

It hadn’t occurred to me that Peter had never seen a urinal before. He emerged with a huge smile from ear to ear, and excitedly announced in a penetrating voice that fell into a moment of complete quiet in the busy restaurant, “Mummy! We wee’ed on the wall!”

 

The whole place erupted into laughter leaving me torn between pride at his perfect articulation and mortification at the circumstances under which he had uttered his first clear sentence. Children were surely put in this world to keep us humble.