Pavlov's Dog

Okay, Pavlov's dog seriously had nothing on my 3-year-old.  I would have thought that once he got past the heavy teething stage, the drooling would slow up.  Not the case here.  Granted he is not constantly oozing at the mouth, and doesn't necessarily need to wear a bib all day, but there are certain circumstances that seem to bring on the slobber.

1.  Food or the discussion of food of any kind.  So talking about having lunch, and the drool starts.  Rip open a packet of "fruit" snacks and the drool comes without even mentioning treats.
2.  Distraction.  This is never me trying to distract him, it would be him distracting himself from the need to swallow his own spit.  So, while concentrating on playing with a toy - better hope all the toys are water-resistant.  Coloring - in case you didn't know, it gets pretty hard to draw on soaking wet paper with a crayon.  V-smile video game - I have to cross my fingers that the drool hits his shirt instead of landing on the screen.
3.  And finally... you may want to stop reading here if my discussion of boy in the bathroom bothers you... when we're peeing or pooping.  Oh yes.  Lots of concentration involved when using the potty.  So if he's peeing, then usually there's some drool hitting the potty too.  Actually, now that I think of it, there may be more drool than pee somedays - as he likes to look around while peeing which tends to keep the pee from hitting the mark.  And then there's the daily pooping.  He still likes some assistance for this activity, as it's terribly hard (apparently) to remember to tuck the penis down when you're very busy working on pooping.  So there I am, holding down his equipment while he holds his breath, turning red in the face - all while maintaining firm eye contact with me - and a stream of drool run off his pouty lip, past his shirt collar and straight onto my hand.

So sloppiness aside, what I can't figure out is how that boy doesn't get dehydrated.  I mean these are not small quantities of liquid escaping his body.  And what do we have in store with an influx of candy expected this weekend and Monday.  I'm going to have to pick up some more swiffer pads, or maybe I'll see if roomba makes a non-stop mopper.