Most of us, when we envision having kids, picture them having similar interests to us. Maybe you were a dancer, and so you eagerly await the time when you can lace up your toddler’s ballet shoes. Or perhaps, like my dad, you start your child watching baseball as soon as they come home from the hospital.

Life doesn’t always work out that way though, since of course the little people we’re raising are actually people in their own right, with minds of their own. My liberal arts family was shocked to have an 8th grader (me) who went to the state science fair and later pursued a graduate degree in public health. Mom joked she didn’t quite know what to do with me!

All this to say, last year I found myself requesting tickets to….a toilet convention.

Ok, Mark is quick to correct me whenever I say that. It’s not actually a toilet convention. It’s called the Waste and Wastewater Equipment, Treatment, and Transport Show (WWETT Show). So basically…a toilet convention. :-p

Menininho has had a passion for bathrooms since before he could talk. For his 3rd birthday, long-time readers know I made him a hand dryer cake. At 10 years old this love hadn’t waned at all. I mean, we watch home remodeling shows on Netflix just for him to critique the bathrooms. So when I learned that the WWETT show would be within driving distance, I knew I had to get him a ticket. It turns out that tickets are not available to the public. Thankfully, after an email from me explaining the situation, we were gifted two tickets to the expo center.

Mark, being an engineer, had the honor of actually accompanying Menininho. “There were port-a-potties, pipe socks, shower trailers,and giant, giant trucks. It was AMAZING!” sighed M.

He came home with a bag of brochures and magazines and more facts about the industry than I care to know. Unfortunately, over the course of the past year some of the paper products were destroyed by little sisters, or had water spilled on them, or were worn out from being carried around every day. It wasn’t a surprise then when I asked him recently what he wanted for his 11th birthday, and M requested another catalog from his favorite company.

And that’s how I found myself emailing a portable toilet company last week, explaining the Menininho’s passion for toilets, how he came to love their company after WWETT, and asking if they could send us a catalog since I couldn’t see a way to join a mailing list from their website. I didn’t hear back and didn’t think anything of it. After all, direct mailings aren’t popular and how many companies would want to spend the postage on a pre-teen who isn’t going to actually buy anything from them?

Turns out, PolyJohn, that’s who. I got a UPS notification Sunday that something would be coming our way, and yesterday evening M came home to a package. It exceeded anything I could have imagined. They wrote him the kindest birthday note and enclosed not only a catalog, but some gifts as well. (The video is worth the 1:30 it takes to watch it, seriously!)

He is never going to (willingly) take off this hat. We’ll see how long his teachers let him keep it on today…

I would never in a million years have dreamt I’d have a child with an intense affection for toilets. I can’t say I understand the appeal at all. But, some people search their whole lives for their passion, and M has found his. That’s pretty amazing! So this birthday, I’m grateful for a company that went above and beyond, and that I get to have a front row seat to my kid’s joy.