Privacy, or the Lack Thereof!

Good morning Everyone!

Kayla, this Thanksgiving in the Smoky Mountains

By a show of hands, how many of you out there who have children love them?

Hands voting, from Print Shop Professional 2.0

That’s what I thought; me too.

Darwin and Mandy in the kitchen

Again by a show of hands, how many of you who have dogs love them too?

Show of hands

Almost as many, but I can tell there are just a few of you that put up with the dog(s) in consideration of your significant other, or your children.  That’s cool; at least you understand the bond between dog and owner.

Could you leave this face outside?

For those of you who have dogs, how many of you have indoor dogs?  (An indoor dog is defined as a dog that spends a substantial part of his or her time inside the house with the family.)

Again, not as many; whether to keep a dog indoors on a regular basis versus outdoors is somewhat of a controversial topic among dog owners.  We have always kept our dogs indoors; that allows them to be more part of the family, but other people feel it is kinder to the dog to keep it outside where it has more room.  In addition, some dogs, like farm dogs and other working dogs, might even prefer to be left outdoors.

Okay, now for those of you who have children and/or indoor dogs, how many of you miss the days when you could take a shower or spend time in your bathroom with ultimate privacy and no interruptions?

Hands voting, from Print Shop Professional 2.0

Me too.

Yesterday, I was taking my morning shower in the “master” bathroom.  In our new house, the “master” bathroom is so-called simply because it is connected to the master bedroom.  (In the United States, the master bedroom is the biggest bedroom in a house.)  It is a postage stamp sized room with a shower, and with the door shut, the shower running and the fan on , you simply cannot hear anything else going on in the rest of the house.

From Print Shop Professional 2.0

So, to return to my tale, yesterday I was taking my shower, enjoying the warm steamy water and the relative quiet, when after a while I became aware of a rhythmic banging coming from somewhere else in the house.  Since it was only myself and Kayla and the dogs in the house, and the dogs not possessing hands with which to bang that hard, it didn’t take much deduction to realize that Kayla was trying to get my attention for some reason.  Not being in a condition to traipse out of the shower at that precise moment, I had to scream, at the top of my lungs, that I was in the shower and couldn’t hear anything so I needed her to come into the bedroom and crack the bathroom door to tell me what she needed.  (Tres elegante, no?).

Elegance

She started to open the door, and as soon as she did, I said, rather sharply, “What Kayla?”  Rather than speaking she started to close the door.  I took a deep breath to calm myself and in a more even tone told her I wanted to know what she needed.  The door then swung fully open so that I could respond to the great emergency.

Door Opening, from Print Shop Professional 2.0

What was it?  She wanted to know if she had put too much detangler in her hair.

Sigh.

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy