POTTY TALKIN' -- NOT NEARLY AS COOL AS JIVE TALKIN' -- BUT JUST AS INCOMPREHENSIBLE

"Mama!" he yells from the bathroom down the hall. "What did Saia say?"

"I WAS TALKING TO MAMA!" she begins to holler back (girl), "SAYING THAT I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE WATCHING CORALINE AGAIN!"

And I just stared at her, waiting for her to see me, to see the look on my face -- you know the look. But there wasn't enough time for that because no sooner had she provided her response than he was at it again.

"BUT SAIA," he screams, "WE HAVEN'T WATCHED IT IN A WHILE!" and I hear the pages of some book or another turning as he...takes care of business.

What the????

And I'm still staring at her, kind of in disbelief now, as this is certainly not the first time I've gotten after them for yelling in the house, but this thing with the bathroom...this engaging in conversation from the throne, interjecting oneself into discussions that are, let's just be really clear here, occurring over 20 feet way in a WHOLE OTHER ROOM THAT YOU ARE NOT IN has just been gaining steam here of late, and, personally, I just do not get the appeal.

And just as she opens her mouth to reply, she inhales deeply, and I come up behind her and clamp my hand over her mouth.

"Enough," I whisper into her ear in that voice -- you know the voice, and continue to the boy, in a similar but slightly louder version of that voice, "Santiago, we are not speaking to you until you come out of the bathroom."

"Okay, Mom!" he sing-songs, completely oblivious.

And 5 minutes later, the second I'm out of what they think is an audible range, I hear him "whispering" to her, "Saia! Saia! Come look at this picture in the National Geographic of the Praying Mantis catching a hummingbird!"

But, of course she's not gonna reply. She knows they're driving me crazy with this. She saw THE face. She heard THE voice. She's not gonna push this any further. She's not.

"OKAY, SANTIAGO!" she yells without hesitation, "I'LL BE RIGHT THERE! JUST GIVE ME A SECOND TO SWITCH OUT THIS DVD!"

[ugh. seriously? what IS it with this?!?!?]

**obviously, due to the content of this post, I could not include more relevant photos, not to say that I have more relevant photos, but if I did have more relevant photos, I certainly wouldn't be posting them here, so these are completely random and not necessarily IRrelevant, but totally inapplicable, photos of them with their babies at Costco, which, trust me, it was just as painful an experience.