A thing about paper towels...

K has a weird thing with noises.  Any big noise gets him a little worked up.  Unexpected noise is the worst, but even predictable noises are enough to scare him.  

So, he doesn't like hand dryers in public bathrooms, and asks to use the paper towels.

I think somewhere in his 4 year old mind, he mixed up an aversion to the hand dryers with a love for paper towels.  And we have been on a paper towel odyssey ever since.  

Every office we visit, every time we go to church, he asks to go to the bathroom, and asks if they have paper towels.  He talks about the dispensers, likes to talk about the colour of the paper towel.....you get the idea.

This has given rise to two entertaining stories :)

Last week I took K to an early morning appointment.  As soon as we arrived at the office he asked, "Is there a bathroom?  Does it have paper towels?"  He'd gone to the bathroom right before we left, so I knew he didn't have to go, and said, "We're not going to the bathroom".  (He can hold his pee for hours and hours...)  He asked again, "Is there a bathroom? Does it have paper towels?".  I said, "Yes, there's a bathroom, it probably has paper towels, but we're not going, you just went".  He looked at me, with a straight face and said, "I have a problem."

Love it.  Such ingenuity :)  I didn't let him go to the bathroom immediately, but we did go to the bathroom before we left.  Creativity shouldn't go unrewarded.

And the love for paper towels continues....

Yesterday K spilled his drink at the table.  I asked him to go grab a towel to clean it up.  He said, "I'll get a paper towel".  I asked him to get the towel that was hanging on the stove.  He walked to the stove but couldn't find it.

In this photo, you'll see K looking longingly at the paper towels.  Unable to find the towel on the stove

So I asked him to take a step closer and put out his left hand. (He's pretty good at left and right :)

The left hand went behind the back...he still couldn't find the towel.

I asked him to take a step closer, and to put out his left hand.  His left hand stayed behind his back, but he did put out his right hand in a half hearted attempt to trick me.  He still couldn't see the towel.  He asked for a paper towel to clean up the mess.

I carefully described the towel, white, with a goose on it, green stripes, red outline.... he couldn't see it.... he still needed a paper towel... (do you love that you can see him looking at it here?)

The left hand was starting to sneak out in this photo...after he touched it, he could find it.  He was a little disappointed though, no paper towel needed.

This stuff cracks me up.  You will be impressed to know that I didn't laugh outloud.  You should also be very impressed that I thought to grab my phone and take these pics.  Or else you wouldn't believe that for over 60 seconds K stood inches away from a towel that he couldn't see.

All for the love of paper towels.

Oh ya....and today he asked to use the hand dryer at church.  (Just to keep me guessing :)