Oh to be a Fly in the Sewer

Big Sissy is a thinker. She is very resourceful, and actually helps me think through problems sometimes. For example, when she turned 4 and had her Fancy Nancy party, I was trying to think of "fancy clothes" for the boys to wear. She is the one who suggested using her hair bows as bow ties for them. Perfect! A couple of months ago, she got tired of waiting for me to refill Little Sissy's sippy cup, so she got out the milk, took the lid off, poured it into the cup, replaced both lids, and had the milk put away before I even knew what had happened. When Little Sissy came happily sauntering down the stairs with her milk, I bolted upstairs expecting to find a mess everywhere (which I deserved for wanting to finish my computer time before tending to their needs). Little Sissy announced, "I made a little mess, but I cleaned it up with 2 napkins and threw them away." Awesome. She can figure out anything. Awesome. And a little scary.

Tonight, out of the blue, she asked me, "So...how would you wash a ponytail holder?"
Me: Well, you could put it in the washing machine with the clothes, or you could just wash it in the sink with soap. Why?
Her: What if it was really dirty, like someone spilled chocolate milk or soup or something really wet like that on it?
Me: Mommy could help you get it clean.
Her: What if I couldn't find it?
Me: Then we can't wash it.
Her: One time, when I was 2 and didn't know any better, and I was potty training, I was wearing stickers. I dropped a sticker in the toilet, and I reached my hand into the potty water and got it. But now I know that's really, really gross.
Me: Yeah, that's really gross.
Her: That's funny, isn't it?
Me: That is funny. You never told me that happened. I'm glad you don't do that anymore. Eeeew.

So here's what I think happened. She dropped the ponytail holder into the toilet, she didn't want to stick her hand in there because now she's 4 and knows that's really gross, then when she flushed she "lost it." I don't think she knows where things go after they get flushed, so she's wondering, just in case she finds that ponytail holder before I do, how she can wash it without telling me what happened. Hmmmm...sneaky but pretty smart. I wish I could investigate to find out if I'm right.