We went up Table Mountain Tuesday. Our visitors ended up staying an extra day and a half thanks to the issues with air travel in Europe, and the weather cleared up, so the timing was perfect. And one of our co-workers offered to pay for our tickets to the top, so we were there! Thanks, Courtney!

Table Mountain is a beautiful flat-topped mountain in the middle of Cape Town. Here’s a view from the top, looking towards Cape Town City Bowl. Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent some of his 27 years of imprisonment, is the little island you see in the background.

I had a good Mountain-Top laugh Tuesday. If I manage to pull a Biblical lesson out of this one, I think you should consider me a magician. It’s really just a funny story, and I thought you might enjoy laughing at with me.

At the top of Table Mountain, they have some special toilets. When you have a toddler with a soggy diaper on your hands, you might not have an extra moment to read the special sign on the way in that explains that the toilets are similar to the ones designed for use on airplanes. Such was the case for me. I saw something about a Boeing 747 and that the toilet paper was “green” even though it was brown, but I didn’t care. I was just looking for the Baby Changing station.

After the Bear had some clean duds, I decided to take the opportunity to use the potty myself, since I didn’t know where we were headed next or how long it would be before I had another opportunity.

The toilets were strange to say the least. They reminded me of a porta-potty. Once you opened the stall door, there were two big steps UP to get to the toilet. I hung the diaper bag on the door, stood the Bear on the middle step and then stepped up to quickly tinkle. The Bear often comes to the loo with me in public and stands there politely while I use the potty. He usually appreciates it when he gets to be the one to flush.

However, on this particular occasion, he seemed a little uneasy. Maybe it was because the ginormous airplane-like toilet was five feet up in the air and just plain weird.

So.

There I am going for a tinkle, when the Bear decides he’s totally not cool with this ginormous mountain-top toilet scenario. He decides to step down from the middle step where he was standing. Now did I mention that each of these steps is like a foot and a half high? As you might guess, when you are about two feet high, a one foot drop might as well be a jump off the high dive. Clearly the Bear hadn’t thought this through.

He takes his leap of faith and falls forward, and his head hits the door, causing it to swing w  i  d  e open. And he is lodged between the foot and a half high step and the wall of the bathroom stall. Crying, and as it appeared from my view four feet above, pretty darn uncomfortable.

So I do what any Mom would do in such a situation.

I stand up, reach down to grab him, and pull him up to sit on my lap.

Meaning.

I am sitting on this big old potty five feet in the air with my trousers around my ankles, a wailing baby in my lap, and the stall door wide open for anyone who would care to venture a look in my direction plenty of time to snap a shot with their iPhone. I console the Bear, and I can only smile and giggle, because

#1 This is motherhood at its finest. And #2 No one is around to enjoy the moment with me. Praise the Lord.

I’m really quite thankful the restroom attendant had stepped out at that point. I wondered if the men outside the loo trying to use the pay phone heard a thud, a wail and a big squeal. I was too busy giggling my way back to Hero Hubs to tell if they stared at me when I walked past.

I suppose sometimes, when you find yourself in a situation where it would be easy to freak out or get flustered, it’s a good idea to decide to laugh. The Bear survived without a bruise, and I didn’t end up flashing anyone. And if that’s not a good reason to be of good cheer, I don’t know what is. You know, a cheerful heart is good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22)

Perhaps we should all take a moment to have a good laugh today. Even if you have to have a laugh at my expense, it’ll do your heart some good. 🙂

xCC

Here’s another mountain-top shot, with a Bear who was none too keen on being photographed. I’ll share some more soon.