There are worse things in life than a poo-covered iPod, right?

I still can’t quite believe it happened. Today, my son dropped his brand new iPod into the toilet.

While I did not witness the actual event, after carefully surveying the scene it appears that it mostly landed in a pile of poo and my son try to wash it off under the tap before telling me it had gotten wet in the toilet. Had he not left a smear off feces on the bathroom sink, I may have believed that story.

Once again my child has both impressed and horrified me with his ability to spin stories. Clearly in his mind, getting poo on the iPod is worse than water.

Wrong, so wrong.

While trying not to yell or sob I calmly explained that poop is better than water or other liquids because poo can be wiped off where as fluids can destroy an iPod..

The good thing is that it appears to have escaped being dunked in urine which, according to my tech-savvy brother - is ideal because urine is acidic and will eat away at the iPods insides, where as water and hopefully poo doesn't.

Following lessons learned from the ghosts of spills vs technology past, I turned it off immediately, dried it as best I could and then laid it out gently on a towel on top of the barbecue when I will leave it to dry for the next two days.

Now, the real dilemma. If the iPod is toast, if it can't be saved because my son decided to use it while on the toilet despite my specific instruction not to, do I buy him another one? The obvious answer is no.

But...

I enjoy having my iPhone to myself. Ever since the kids received their iPods, my iPhone has been in my full custody and I haven't missed a message, a phone call or a Facebook post.

Once when my older son lost his iPod I secretly bought him a new one a week later but told him I had just found his old one. The reason I did this was because I didn't want to teach him that if he loses something of value I would just replace it, so he could continue to be careless. At the same time I really wanted him to have an iPod because he was the one who used to always take my phone.

My parenting logic is clearly flawed and in opposition to everything I know to be 'right' but I have always based my parenting decisions by balancing good parenting practices with my sanity.

After solemnly watching me perform CPR on his beloved iPod my son asked, "What happens if you can't fix it?" I said, "Then you just won't have an iPod".

He visibly deflated in front of me. He has been so proud and thoroughly delighted by finally having one and has been conscientiously adhering to all the time restrictions I have put in place for all three kids when it comes to devices.

I don't know what I am going to do. All I know is that school is back soon and I am looking forward to being able to step back and take some time to consider how I handle situations like this, affectionately called 'Poopy iPods' by the part of me that is almost, almost ready to laugh.

Almost.

I will let you know how I go and if it turns on.

What's the grossest thing your kids have ever done?

Here are 16 naughty kids that will make you glad they're not your own: