Fixing the Toilet

Today we fixed the toilet! The toilet in our rental house has been requiring us to hold down the lever and count to 10 or it won't flush. This was fine for a while and we all got used to it, and then the girls started counting to 10 in Spanish for some variety, but still... why not fix it. I talked with a friend to make sure this was something simple that I could do and then I gathered the girls around and told them I was going to give them a lesson on how a toilet works.

I them line up with Leah first, then Natalie in the middle, then Becca on the end. Leah stuck her arm straight out (to be the lever) and held Natalie's hand with the other hand. They kept their hands down. I told Leah that when I flushed the lever (pulled her hand down) she was to raise up the other hand and Natalie's hand with it. Becca was to look for the opportunity and run through the arch they created. Becca was the clean water. So I pulled Leah's outstretched hand down and held it for 10 counts and Becca gleefully ran through. Then we got back into our original positions and I pulled Leah's hand down and then released it quickly, like you would with a regular flush. Becca didn't have time to get through! So I explained to them that that is how a toilet works and then we went and took the lid off the back of the toilet tank. I asked them, does anyone see anything that reminds them of what we talked about? And immediately they pointed out the handle, the lever arm, and the flapper. I flushed it once to show them how the clean water fills up the tank, then I shortened the chain (explaining that now the flapper will lift up high enough for all the water to get out in time) and we flushed it again. Quick and correct. We were all very proud of ourselves.

No more
uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez!