My own father followed his dad’s footsteps. When we grew up, the plunger was always close by. As I got older and gained two sisters, we all had to share one bathroom. I soon lost my enthusiasm for bathroom adventure.

Daddy had quite a creative streak in him. He would use our bathtub in the winter to thaw out frozen hoses that he needed to water livestock.

“Mom, how am I supposed to take a bath in here,” I’d scream hysterically, just knowing the world would end if I couldn’t be clean.

Actually, mothers deserve all the credit we give them on Mother’s Day, and then they ought to share Father’s Day just for putting up with the guys.

Mother had great patience with the old hose-in-the-bathtub hassle, but her greatest endurance has been her 17-year wait for a remodeled bathroom. Seventeen years ago, my father thought our bathroom would be beautiful with marble tiles on the floor and marble walls. This is the same man who drags dirty hoses through the house, but still we all agreed it was a wonderful idea.

Well, the floor tile was put in place, and Dad only cracked a couple.

We admired it and admired him until winter set in; the marble tile was colder than ice cubes. By the next summer, the white tile started turning yellow and later became marble history. They now have blue linoleum.

Part of the marble for the walls was installed. The rest of it is out in Dad’s garage, sort of a marble monument to good intentions.

As you may have guessed by now, the man I married is not exactly Mr. Plumber.

Last week, he set out to install a simple faucet in the bathroom lavatory.

“Simple installment. No tools necessary,” read the instructions.

Billy proceeded to get as comfortable as possible in the small area, surrounded by two cats, two small boys, a box fan and a mound of tools.

I decided he had all the help he needed, so I began mowing the lawn. I was soon interrupted by my oldest son who was waving at me frantically.

“Dad says he needs you now,” Craig said.

I was greeted by my scowling husband who asked, “Are you going to come in here and help me, or are you just going to stay out there and mow the yard all day?”