Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Shivering, and Not From the Cold

Once again my children have stepped to the plate at the last minute to contribute fodder for this blog.  Their youthful innocence brings marvel and wonder to life's most minor aspects, and I am proud to share them with you.  Of course, I'm referring to the phenomenon of "pee shivers" or, as Wikipedia puts it, post-micturition convulsion syndrome.  But for the purposes of this post, I'm going with pee shivers.


My older son recently had his first experience with pee shivers, which was accompanied by laughter and a lot of errant splashing.  It takes a while for a boy to master aim in general, and it's much more difficult when your body is experiencing a magnitude 8.5 trembler.  Even the scented candles on the back of the bowl are at risk of being extinguished.  Don't bother to ask about the floor.

I explained to him that pee shivers are a natural, if not freakish, occurrence, and it happens to all guys (NOTE: I hope this is the only "it happens to all guys" speech I will ever need to have with my children).  That seemed to end his questioning for the time being.  Then, yesterday, I had the pleasure of overhearing this conversation...

"Hey, I just shivered again when I peed," my older son shouted from the bathroom.

My younger son ran to him.  "Can I try?"

(NOTE: this is when I grabbed the post-it note and pen and started writing as fast as I could)

My older son zipped his pants and made room in front of the bowl.

"When, when I start?" the young one asked his brother as he got in position, ready for his first pee shiver.

"After," his brother told him.

"When you flush it?" the anticipation was killing him.

"No, while you're peeing."

I could hear the stream hit the water, then fade to a trickle and stop.  Then a very disappointed "I'm not shaking."

Alas, the pee shivers are not contagious like yawns and he will have to try again.  But I am confident that one day he will experience them.  As far as he is concerned, that day cannot come soon enough.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, I never heard of such a thing and I have a 12 yr. old son. I'm going to have to go embarrass him now and ask about his pee-shivers.

Rick Daley said...

According to Wikipedia (which is never wrong, you know) 83% of 24,000 males surveyed responded that they have had pee shivers. 58% of 1,200 females said they have experienced it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pee_shivers

Laurel said...

Once again, I am in the minority. This would explain a great deal, however, about the constant congealed piss puddle I have to sandblast from around the base of the toilet.

It's not poor aim. It's the pee shivers.

I had the right idea when I started potty training him OUTSIDE.

ali cross said...

ROFL I just had to ask my hubby and he says it hasn't happened to him. But one of my 9 y/o's says it's happened to him. Too funny. What a conversation to have with my men ;)

Rick Daley said...

It's an odd phenomenon, indeed. It doesn't happen often, but when it hits you certainly know it!

Laurel- kids still have terrible aim. By the time they reach adulthood, men are much better and can even be very accurate in the dark. We have a form of sonar, similar to the bats in the way they hunt for insects in the dark of night.

Davin Malasarn said...

This is hilarious, Rick!!!

Rick Daley said...

Thanks Davin ;-)

What really cracked me up was the monkey-see-monkey-do enthusiasm of my little one when he ran into the bathroom yelling "Can I try?"

I love having kids!

Unknown said...

They say you learn something new everyday. I never in a million years would've guessed I'd learn this today. Thank you - I think. :)

Rick Daley said...

I am here to inform as well as entertain.

Anonymous said...

Been there..done that! So funny! I love how you pick up on such small moments of fascination in life. Makes me smile lots.

Sharon said...

I think I need to start reading wikipedia!!!

Susan Kaye Quinn said...

Sonar! *snort*

Amongst my three boys, there's always an eagerness I associate with puppies when something, anything, new comes up.

If I'm lucky, this one will pass by our house without stopping.

Thanks for the laugh!

Eric said...

LOL, I don't know which is funnier, the fact that the younger one "wanted" to experience this phenomena or that you ran to get a piece of paper and "capture the moment". Thanks for the laugh though.

Vodka Logic said...

I guess if a lady has a pee shiver it still hits the bowl. Not sure I have ever heard of them. Going to check out wiki.

Thanks for the lesson.

Rick Daley said...

I must say I'm surprised so many of you have never heard of pee shivers, except for a child and an Anonymous commentor (who probably stayed anonymous for this very reason...)

I think this calls for greater social awareness. We need to march on Washington. Maybe it will distract all the crooks there from their current jobs of ruining our country and buy us normal citizens an extra day of sanity. (NOTE: I am in independent, so I am making fun of the ineptitude of both Republicans and Democrats. It's not worth pissing people off if you can't target everybody. Hmmm...just mentioned pissing and targets, strangely on topic for today, and totally unintended.)

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Hilarious, Rick. I had no idea about this either. I suppose this could work its way into somebody's book somewhere, maybe...

WeaselMomma said...

I must admit, I was completely unaware of this phenomenon.
That made this post even more amusing.

Rich said...

So it'e pee-shivers is it? Don't get um but got another aiming curse! It may be rare but I can pee in a V, no problem at the urnal but extremely challing at the bowl. What is up with that??

Rick Daley said...

So my Dad doesn't get 'em. Well I guess that proves it's not hereditary, unless it skips a generation, like male pattern baldness.

Pee in a V must be a real handicap when you try to write your name in the snow...Maybe that's the real reason you moved to Hilton Head.

Penney said...

I'm a little jealous - if your little one figures out how to catch the bug, let me know, I want to try too! =)

Rick Daley said...

Penney- If we can figure out how to make it happen, I'll develop it into a secret weapon and take over the world. You'll be included.

And if anyone cal translate TeshaNauin's hieroglyphics, I have $20 in Monopoly money for you.

Anita said...

This is a regular occurence in our home. Maybe because we live in CO?I wonder if it's the altitude or the cold? :)

Vodka Mom said...

i am laughing too hard to muster a catchy come back.




and I just shivered.

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