{"id":41,"date":"2011-02-23T09:24:00","date_gmt":"2011-02-23T09:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2011\/02\/23\/the-blessings-of-a-small-bathroom\/"},"modified":"2011-02-23T09:24:00","modified_gmt":"2011-02-23T09:24:00","slug":"the-blessings-of-a-small-bathroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2011\/02\/the-blessings-of-a-small-bathroom.html","title":{"rendered":"The Blessings of a Small Bathroom"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><div style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif\"><b>Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif\"><b><br><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif\"><b>Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif\"><b><br><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif\"><b>Every morning, our family of three adults and five children has a pretty much set routine. \u00a0If my husband went to pray fajr in the masjid, he\u2019s out super early. \u00a0Then I\u2019m up next, then I rouse the children when it is time for school. Part of my job as majordomo is to make sure everyone gets a chance to use the bathroom without waiting a long time. \u00a0I mean, c\u2019mon, three boys with full bladders? \u00a0Sometimes, if one stays in bed a few minutes longer, or another wakes up early, my well-planned flowchart (so to speak) is messed up and I have kids hopping up and down in the hallway banging on the door and yelling \u201cHurry UP!\u201d \u00a0Not the way I want to start my morning. \u00a0We have a second bathroom that is available in a pinch, but let\u2019s just say it is in serious need of a plumber\u2019s attention so I try to avoid using it if at all possible. \u00a0My father-in-law has his own bathroom downstairs, so overall we\u2019re okay. \u00a0As long as the routine doesn\u2019t get scrambled.<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif\"><b><br><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif\"><b>The bathroom is functional. \u00a0That\u2019s about all you can say about it. \u00a0Dated tile, dated vanity, a few cracks now appearing in the slippery white ceramic on the floor. \u00a0Sometimes \u2013 okay, often \u2013 you have to lift the lid and mess with the thingy (insert unknown plumbing term here) to get the toilet to flush. \u00a0It is also small; I can touch the walls front to back by extending my arms. \u00a0So, am I complaining about this plain, small, heading towards worn-out bathroom? \u00a0Not at all. \u00a0On the contrary, I consider it a blessing.<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif\"><b><br><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif\"><b>Anyone who has had to use a port-a-potty at the fair or some sporting event knows how, um, disgusting it is to not have a modern bathroom facility. \u00a0Worn though my bathroom may be, it has running water and is sanitary and not scary. \u00a0(Does anyone else have nightmares about some monster living in the bottom of a port-a-potty? \u00a0Anyone? \u00a0No? \u00a0Okay, it\u2019s just me, I guess.) \u00a0It does its job and other than the jiggle-the-handle issue, it works. \u00a0So I am not complaining.<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif\"><b><br><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif\"><b>I watch home remodeling shows on TV all the time, and I\u2019m amazed at couples who look at a home and reject it because the bathroom is not big enough. \u00a0I think to myself, who in the world would want a bathroom the size of the Taj Mahal? \u00a0Think of all the cleaning you\u2019ll have to do. \u00a0Unless that bathroom comes with a matron to clean it and hand out towels and little soaps shaped like butterflies, I\u2019ll pass. \u00a0This morning I had to scrub the floor in the bathroom and it took me about three minutes. \u00a0Three minutes. \u00a0That\u2019s on my hands and knees with a pail of Pine-Sol and a scrubby sponge. \u00a0If I had a palatial bathroom like I see on TV, I\u2019d be in there all day, scrubbing and polishing and crying and sobbing\u2026. \u00a0No, I\u2019ll pass on the big bathroom, thank you. \u00a0I\u2019m quite content with what I have.<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif\"><b><br><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif\"><b>I did not wake up this morning and think I would hold forth on the affection I have for my bathroom. \u00a0I meant to scan the headlines of the newsites and read my FB, see what\u2019s up, and compose something worldy and topical. \u00a0But, honestly, I think it\u2019s okay. \u00a0 \u00a0Maybe reading about something as pedestrian as a bathroom will help someone remember to be thankful for the things we take for granted. \u00a0Hmmm. \u00a0And perhaps tomorrow I\u2019ll write about my sink\u2026..<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"blogger-post-footer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/8276196425188955527-3486164895718208598?l=muslimahinprogress.blogspot.com\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah Every morning, our family of three adults and five children has a pretty much set routine. \u00a0If my husband went to pray fajr in the masjid, he\u2019s out super early. \u00a0Then I\u2019m up next, then I rouse the children when it is time for school. Part of my [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Blessings of a Small Bathroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bismillahi Rahmani RahimSalaam Alaikum wa RahmatullahEvery morning, our family of three adults and five children has a pretty much set routine. &nbsp;If\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2011\/02\/the-blessings-of-a-small-bathroom.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Blessings of a Small Bathroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bismillahi Rahmani RahimSalaam Alaikum wa RahmatullahEvery morning, our family of three adults and five children has a pretty much set routine. &nbsp;If\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2011\/02\/the-blessings-of-a-small-bathroom.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Muslimah in Progress\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-02-23T09:24:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/8276196425188955527-3486164895718208598?l=muslimahinprogress.blogspot.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nancy Qualls-Shehata\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nancy Qualls-Shehata\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2011\/02\/the-blessings-of-a-small-bathroom.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2011\/02\/the-blessings-of-a-small-bathroom.html\",\"name\":\"The Blessings of a Small Bathroom\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-23T09:24:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-02-23T09:24:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/#\/schema\/person\/6218cbef696f8f6c933831dfcc2096b9\"},\"description\":\"Bismillahi Rahmani RahimSalaam Alaikum wa RahmatullahEvery morning, our family of three adults and five children has a pretty much set routine. &nbsp;If\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2011\/02\/the-blessings-of-a-small-bathroom.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2011\/02\/the-blessings-of-a-small-bathroom.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/2011\/02\/the-blessings-of-a-small-bathroom.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Blessings of a Small Bathroom\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/muslimahinprogress\/\",\"name\":\"Muslimah in Progress\",\"description\":\"I&#039;m an American Muslimah of a certain age with some pretty strong opinions. 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