Do-Do It Again, Daddy

I recently discovered—over breakfast no less—that my husband has been teaching our kids the “diarrhea” song. You know the one:

When you’re sliding into first
With your pants about to burst
Diarrhea, diarrhea

When you’re riding in your Chevy
And you’re feeling something heavy
Diarrhea, diarrhea

And it goes on and on from there.

Initially, I was horrified and annoyed that daddy would do such a thing. Can you imagine? My almost 3-year-old son walking into preschool singing “diarrhea, diarrhea.” Not that anything I say really matters around here when it comes to fun time with daddy. Without skipping a beat (or paying me any mind), they continued to make up their own verses of this oh so delectable song. And pretty soon all four of us were cracking up—yes, even me. Because I realized that this is one of those things my children are going to remember when they’re all grown up, in the exact same way I remember singing this song as a kid and giggling with my brother over the fact that we were talking about poop (much to our parents’ chagrin, I’m sure)! LOL, even now it makes me laugh.

We’re all stuck in a world that focuses on so many negative things. I’m sure we’re not the only ones, but a lot of the time my husband and I are stressed out, cranky, depressed, lonely, snippy, angry, mentally depleted, just tapped out in every possible way. And we end up taking it out on our kids. That’s not something I like to admit, but it is what it is. So, when we stumble on these pockets of simplicity, these moments of genuine happiness and laughter—over something as natural and human as going to the bathroom—I’m inclined to let it ride, consequences be damned.

Because at the end of the day, all I wanna hear is my family’s laughter. Today, tomorrow, and every day after that. And if singing a song about poop with their daddy makes my kids hoot, holler, and belly laugh, well, a little bit of diarrhea never hurt anyone. So, to that I say:

When you’re goin kinda cray
And you’re feelin something spray
Diarrhea, diarrhea

Oh, and for any of you researcher types out there, I was intrigued enough to Google search the origins of “The Diarrhea Song.” (Yeah, I know, I’m crazy.) And it turns out, my family aren’t the only ones passing down this silly tradition. There’s a whole blog spot on this called “The Official Diarrhea Song,” where anyone can post their own “original” lyrics to the song. Awesome! I came across this other fun article too: “A Primer on the Diarrhea Song: Origins, Lyrics, and Structure.”

Happy reading (and snickering)!