'Privy prop' designer on 'Ellen'

ODEBOLT, Iowa, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- A 9-year-old from Odebolt, Iowa, is receiving praise for inventing the "Privy Prop," which uses a pedal to lift or close the toilet seat.

Jake Wulf's invention even caught the eye of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," which invited him to demonstrate the invention in television, The Sioux City (S.D.) Journal reported Monday.

The foot-activated toilet seat lifter was thought up by Jake to solve a little problem that he has had his whole life.

"He's done this (left the seat up) pretty much all his life," his mother, Beth Wulf, said to the Journal. "He's in too big a hurry to take care of that. He's been reminded thousands of times over the years."

So the 9-year-old was inspired to invent this issue away.

"My mom was getting mad at me for forgetting to put the toilet seat down and she was falling in," Jake old the newspaper. He added that his main inspiration was a trash can with a pedal that he spotted while at the doctors office.