There's a certain phrase that I believe all parents will utter at some point or another. I got my chance about a week ago.

Veronica heads upstairs to go potty. If it's just peeing, she doesn't need my help for any reason; she's big enough to handle the process on her own, thanks. So when she hollers for me, I can't understand why:

"Mommy! I need you!"

"What?"

"I need you! Come up here!"

"What for? Did you poop?"

"No, just pee! Come up here Mommy!"

So I head up the stairs.

At the top of my stairs is the bathroom. The door is open. Veronica is sitting inside on the toilet, pants around her ankles, her little legs dangling above the floor.

The toilet paper roller is empty...and there's about half a roll's worth of toilet paper piled beneath it on the floor.

So before I could even think, I uttered the phrase:

"Veronica - WHAT THE HELL?!"

And she so succicintly answered:

"HUH?"

So I rephrased.

"Veronica, what did you DO in here?"

"I took all de paper off."

Well, ask a stupid question....

I decided to look for the logic.

"OK, I see that." deep breath "WHY did you take all the paper off?"

And while looking confused yet perfectly justified at the same time, she answered:

"'Cas I wanted to see what was under there. I wanted to see the brown part."

*SIGH*

Every now and again, she reminds me that words have more than one definition (My explanation of the highway berm to her: "That's where you go if you're in an accident," to which she responded sagely, "Oh, like if someone pees in your car."), that life has more reasons behind it than you think, that minds don't necessarily work with the knowledge and logic of a jaded adult.

So the paper got folded up over the roller and used in that fashion until it was gone. And that was that. Just a little toilet paper strewn across a floor, and an adorable memory to last a lifetime.