The first thing we noticed when we checked into our San Antonio hotel rooms was the toilets. I’ve seen many a toilet in my day, but never one with a choice.
My daughter came running out of the bathroom yelling, “Mom, there is no flush!” And there wasn’t, not in the typical sense, anyway. Instead, there were two buttons on the top. One had a circle that was half filled in and the other had a circle that was completely filled in. I pushed the half filled button and the toilet flushed. Next, I tried the filled in circle. It flushed again, only this time with much more water.
Whatdayaknow! Now one has to think to use the commode. How would those middle of the night runs work if one had to wake up enough to choose little flush or big flush? I decided right then and there that big flush has always been good enough for me, and I snubbed little flush altogether. The kids, on the other hand, fared pretty well once I told them that they were little, so they should choose little flush. Whew, I’m glad we got that one settled! What will they think of next?
Shortly before our trip I read this post from fellow blogger Robin. Check out his post for more strange toilets! 🙂

I stand amazed.
Wow! I think I would’ve also chosen the bigger flush. We were at the home improvement store last week-end and happened upon a toilet with more options than a luxury car. I was amazed.
Hmmm, I think in this case, bigger is better too. How funny! I thought you were going to talk about one of those earopean toilets that washes the vajaja. That probably would have been weird to explain to a child. 🙂 Ha ha.
Heather From and Mommy Only Has 2 Hands!
Never thought they could “upgrade” the good-old-fashioned American toilet! Leave it to the techie geeks!
My parents have a toilet with the option. I thought it was a bit odd at first myself, but it does save water if you only need the small flush. 🙂
Yep, these are pretty normal in Europe. I was also a bit confused when I came across them as a teenager in Belgium. I’m pleased the kids figured out how to use the “flusher”! Thanks for the link, by the way!
What will they think of next? Always open to new things:)
Interesting….
big flush/little flush sounds like a Dr. Suess book, lol.
My kids would have went with the “big” flush every time, just cause they can.
Haha! My kids would have stood and pushed those buttons all day long. Glad we only have one option at our house! (A small flush would never work at our house anyway…)
That’s the ONLY kind of toilet there is where we live.
The idea is to save water: the “little flush” is for when you urinate, while the “big flush” is for bowel movements. It really does help.
I always laugh when I hear or see kids around these toilets since the purpose of them is to save water yet they entice the children to flush more than ever to see what a “big flush” does vs a “little flush”! Nothing like encouraging them to flush a few extra times..
i have one like this too, i luve the option of saving water if its just a small flush for a no. 1.
My sister just got a toilet like this and my (recently toilet-trained) son and I were totally confused by it! She explained it the same way as Rachel that the first was for #1, the bigger flush for #2. My son who hates loud noises refused to ever use the bigger flush! But yeah, confusing toilets always make for funny stories. : )