One man's trash can ...

En route to my kitchen yesterday, I passed by the bathroom, and caught a glimpse of my 5-year-old standing there… doing, well, what boys do standing up in bathrooms. (Why I could see all this when I don’t have X-ray vision is another matter.)

Main problem was my son wasn’t standing over the toilet. He was standing over the trash can. We caught each other’s shocked expressions at the same time. My otherwise bright preschooler was announcing with a mixture of horror and disbelief: “That was a mistake!”

Seems that when you’ve got to go really, really bad and you’re busy thinking of other things…like will Tom and Jerry ever get along?...that you don’t discriminate between short, round containers near a particular spot in the bathroom.

So, add trash can to the shopping list.

My heretofore lovely trash can was a bronze metal container. I chose that to complement the light fixture in the bathroom, which is also bronze.

This all leads me to a decorating tip: When you are picking out accessories for a bathroom or kitchen, stick to the same metal finish throughout. If you’ve got brushed nickel on the faucets, use that finish on the lights, toilet paper holder, light switches, trash can and even the toilet handle (did you know you can replace your toilet handle quiet easily?).

It’s a subtle thing, but the overall effect will be a polished, put-together space. All that aside, I’m going to be looking for something in particular when I pick up my new trash can: I’m going to try to find one that flushes.