Gross Factor: 4 out of 10

What do you call it when you have a duty to do in the bathroom? Did you use the number system as a child? One for liquids, two for solids? It was used in the home I grew up in. And I used it with my children. It was a code to be used in lieu of vocalizing in public the gross alternatives such as "poop". I had not realized it was such a part of our culture, although probably not spelled out anywhere -- until recently. Where did I discover this? In the bathroom of course. It's always educational to travel, don't you think? Well, along the route between Wenham, Massachusetts and Geneva, Illinois, I was educated on the fact that the whole world must use the number system. In a rest area, doing my own business, was a new kind of toilet. I warned you this has a gross factor. Instead of the normal handle to flush, this toilet had a special orange colored handle with instructions for the uninitiated (me). It told me to push the handle up for number 1 (liquids) and push it down for solids (number 2). Apparently this will conserve clean water as one requires more water than the other. I had to chuckle; all the moms in the world have had their private language published. It's offical.