Rain Barrels, Toilets and a Potty Training 2 Year Old

Okay, so this post is just me rambling on a rainy day, but I was thinking, with all this crazy rain we're having here, how much I love my rain barrel. Yesterday, in preparation for the coming storm, I emptied it. Now, currently, we don't have a lot of plants, so one rain barrel has proven more than sufficient as most of our previous neighbours will tell you how reluctant we are to water our lawn. But, it makes you so aware of how much water you are actually using. I think you become more careful with it as you know there is not an infinite amount in there. I wish people could see all the water we use that way. It is all connected in a global sense. Water is an especially good example of how those close to the source affect those further away.

When we were building this house, one thing we knew for sure that we wanted to include was dual flush toilets. So, we made an appointment with the plumbing people. First thing we did when we got there was told them why we were there...well, we were met with looks of absolute astonishment! You don't want one of those they told us. No one wants those. I said--hey, 'those' have been mandatory in Australia for close to 15 years. Reluctantly, they sold us the $300 upgraded toilet--a Mansfield pressure assist model. Pull handle up for close to 6 litres and down for more like 4 litres. Most people jump the first time they use it. It is actually quite amusing for us. Kind of a cruel party trick as the more people have to drink, the stronger their reaction tends to be. But, it is absolutely the best toilet we have ever had...we love it! And, believe me when I say, there was a time in my life if you had told me I would be writing about my love for a toilet I would have laughed until I peed. Now, we kick ourselves for not putting them upstairs, but, at the time, I had spent a crazy amount on upgrades--and, we decided we would let it mellow if it was yellow in the non public spaces. And, we do...in fact, actually getting our kids to flush the toilet has become a problem.

So, water usage at our house is far, far below the average. I know(only because we are crazy aware of things like this and the town of Okotoks has had issues taking our water readings over the last year) that we use on average 8 cubic metres of water in this house per month. Like I said, we don't water our lawn...in fact, we are getting rid of it soon. We also have low flow faucets and a front loading washing machine. Why am I telling you all this? Well, it's rainy here, so I am thinking lots about water today...that, and, my daughter is potty training so I am thinking lots about pee. She has actually taken to using pee as a weapon. Whenever she is angry with us, she whips off her pants and her underwear and pees on the spot. The other night in protest to us cruel parents making her go to bed, she quietly got out of bed, took off her clothes and had a gigantic pee on the floor before promptly laying down and falling asleep in it. Good thing I checked on her shortly thereafter. Thank God she hasn't figured out that poop has much more power behind it...peace out.