iXL Fun, originally uploaded by cheryl.
It could have been bad. As in very, very bad.
One night a few weeks ago I was giving all three boys a bath at the end of the day. It's a process, let me tell you. It usually takes about two hours, to get each one a bath, their teeth brushed, a book or two read and each of the boys into their rooms for the night (notice I didn't say asleep, because that usually takes much, much longer, right Saw?).
Anyway, I was giving the boys their baths. Connor went first, as he usually likes to do (not sure why, since it's the precursor to bed, but he really does ask to go first). Often, after he is finished, both twins climb in together. Probably more routine than anything, as we always gave them their bath together. At some point their going to outgrow it, as they're almost too big to fit in there together now. But they were together, and Xander usually finishes up first. He's always willing to brush his teeth and jump (yes jump) out of the tub.
So, Connor was already clean and into his room for the night. I was getting Xander into his pajamas and ready for our usual story (Sesame Street ABC & 123, every single night). That meant Sawyer was in the tub all by himself.
Or so I thought.
He's sneaky these days, that one. While he should have been finishing up in the tub, eating his ice and splashing his color change Hot Wheels around (hence the ice), he was in fact dripping water all across our floors. He decided he wanted to play the iXL some more.
Do you see where this is going?
Because he found it in the play room, brought it back to the bathroom (yes, still dripping all the way), and then climbed back into the tub. The iXL took a bath of its own.
Once I finished with Xander, I went back into the bathroom to check on Sawyer. And that's when I saw the dripping wet iXL laying on the bathroom cabinet.
Oops.
I was sure the best-Christmas-gift-ever was finished. I mean, really. Computers and water do not mix well together. I remembered all the stories about wet cell phones, and tried some simple remedies. I dried it off as much as I could with a towel, took it to the kitchen and disassembled it as much as I could with a screwdriver. And then I set it up on it's side to drain.
It did not look good. I could literally see water rolling around underneath the touch screen.
But I had a wet and unhappy little boy (who may or may not have gotten yelled at for taking his electronic toy into the tub) who needed to be put into bed. That was done quickly, with none of the usual reading or cuddling that he prefers. He was really unhappy after that, but it couldn't be helped. I was trying to save one of the twins' favorite toys.
So I dug around in my bathroom for the hair dryer that I never use. I pulled it out and took it to the kitchen, where I used the "cool" setting to try to dry out the circuit boards. I had very little expectation of it working.
Then I left it overnight to dry.
The next day, I tried putting fresh batteries into it. It came on to the main screen (which was impressive). But sadly, that's all it would do.
I took the batteries back out and left it hidden in a cabinet for a few more days. And then I tried again.
And it actually turned on, good as new. I was completely shocked, and totally impressed. Fisher-Price rocks. They made a water-resistant mini-computer for kids. The twins would have been incredibly disappointed if it had been destroyed.
But now, I make sure I put it out of reach before bath time. Let's not push our luck.