* He could do his own laundry;

* Our checking account didn't take a direct hit on the first of every month;

* And the toilet seat remained in an upright position a lot more than it used to.

Really, this new habit should have come as no surprise. After all, he'd been living with a bunch of guys for five years--first in the college dorm, then in an off-campus apartment and finally in a pretty grungy fraternity house (hey, I'm sure there were toilets that didn't even have lids ... or seats, for that matter!).

So when he came home, so did his newfound college habits--among them, leaving the toilet seat up.

Of course, the golden retriever loved it. For Curly, all it meant was better access to a cool drink of water whenever the urge struck. And the issue was really no big deal for the teen-ager and I. But my wife wasn't happy about it at all. In fact, she flipped her lid.

"All that time invested in potty training when he was little, and I've got to start all over again," she moaned.

That's right. Five years away from home, and almost 20 years of training down the drain.

But just when she thought all was lost, I stepped in to save the day.

I was just taking a random look through my e-mail when a line in an unsolicited press release caught my eye: "Welcome to the throne room of the amazing new and revolutionary Wee Winkle Tinkle™!"

Wee Winkle what?

"Toilet training? Toilet seat up? You may never fall in the toilet bowl again because the seat has been left up!"

Hey, this just might be the perfect device to get the job done at home, I thought. And I might make a few points with my wife in the process.

"The Wee Winkle Tinkle™ toilet lid position signal will alert you that the toilet seat has been left up. It's effective, reliable, and inexpensive, too!"

Inexpensive? I liked the sound of that.

"The Latrine Queen introduces the wonderful and new Wee Winkle Tinkle™ electronic toilet lid position signal!"

Electronic? Even better.

"When the toilet seat is raised, the Wee Winkle Tinkle™ electronic toilet lid position signal will start playing a melody. The melody will continue playing until the toilet seat is put down."

Melody? That's not quite the electronic shock treatment I was hoping for. But it should still do the trick.

So I took my newfound information to my wife.

"Yeah, it's about the size of a credit card, and it fits under the toilet seat," I explained to her. "Then as long as the lid is up, it plays 'You Are My Sunshine.' "

"I'll take three!" said my wife matter-of-factly, without even asking the price.

So our home was soon filled with sunshine, after our order for three Wee Winkle Tinkle™ cards was filled by the Latrine Queen up in the state of Washington.

And that sure did make my wife happy. Curly, on the other hand, was one disappointed pooch.

Visit http://www.weewinkletinkle.com and find out for yourself!

Want to talk? Give me a call at 408.354.3110, or write to dsparrer@svcn.com.