I was originally going to post about our weekend, but let's face it, there isn't much to write. We put 1000 miles on the wagon driving to and from my parent's house and then to and from Milwaukee from there. Then we drove to and from Mille Lacs after I worked on Monday. Driver and I went to the DMB concert where we found out two things: 1)We are not huge Dave fans, because the people we hung out with were freaks. 2)We may not have been the oldest people there, but having a mortgage and kids makes you feel old. And I guess we were close to being the oldest people there. OK, except for one lady, maybe we were. (Also, Driver complaining about his aching feet all the way back to his sister's apt may makeone feel old, too.)
The big news around here is the new potty we bought Back Seat Girl. We took her along to pick one out. She was so excited about it. She kept telling us about how she was going to go pee pee in her potty. Driver like to remind her that she could go poopy in there, too. Anyway, we brought home the potty and immediately took it out of the box and put it in the bathroom. Back Seat Baby immediately wanted to sit on it. So, off with her diaper and shorts and on to the potty she went. She got up a few times, all the while saying something about pee-peeing in the potty. Then, one time when she got up, there it was. The child had actually peed in the potty! We hadn't even had the thing home for 10 minutes. I didn't even know if she really knew what it felt like to have to pee. As soon as I saw that liquid in the bottom of her new, very own potty, I started making a huge deal. Driver came over with his chin in the floor, and got her a sticker to put on her potty. Well, that sticker pretty much cemented in her head that peeing or pooping in her potty was her only goal. So, she sat there, and sat there, and sat there some more. She would sit down and then immediately stand up and say "I pee-peed in the potty. I get a sticker." I tried to explain that she actually had to pee or poop in there to get one. She was so determined to do it again that she cried through her whole bath because she couldn't sit on her potty. While Driver was drying her off, she said "I have to go poopy" and then she farted. Driver immediately carried her to the potty, where there was more sitting, but no more producing. She ran out in the living room to get her "fishy" (small plastic dolphin but you try to explain it's actually a mammal), and told me he had to go poopy. Then, she put him in the potty, told me he had gone poopy and said "I get a sticker for the fishy". Wow, now she was trying to manipulate me using the fishy to get a sticker. I explained that stickers were only for Back Seat Girl. That seemed to pacify her.
So, here is our dilemma. We figured we'd bring it home so she could get used to the idea for a little while, before we started training in ernest. Let's face it, we're not prepared. She is still sleeping in a crib, which isn't good for middle of the night potty needs, and I don't have any training pants or big girl underwear. Plus, I have no clue what I'm doing. I feel like up to this point, she's pretty much been raising herself. I let her figure out her own schedule, and up until now parenting has just been us saying "don't put that in your mouth" or "you have to eat your vegetables before you can have a cookie" or teaching her baby signs or words or numbers or colors or whatever. Now I actually have to be a parent. And I have never potty trained anyone before. Well, I did train Driver to put the seat down, but I think this may be different. She just seems so little to be getting potty trained. I can't imagine her wearing big girl underwear. And what am I going to do at the park when she has to pee? Frankly, it almost makes me a little sad. Of course, peeing in the potty tonight could just be a big fluke, in which case I will be posting soon about how frustrated I am and how hard potty training is. I guess we'll see. The one thing I know about Back Seat Girl is that once she gets something in her head, there's no getting it out. She remembers EVERYTHING, and she'll remember she got a sticker for peeing in that potty.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I almost cried when I read that she peed in the potty. It is tough to watch them grow up and become more independent. I really don’t know much about being a parent either (my method is similar to don’t put that in your mouth, don’t stand on the cat, and please if you are going to climb up on the table-sit down), but you have to be consistent. Back Seat Girl is a smart cookie and if she wants to start using the potty then it’s time. Remember she is also the girl that started talking before she was a year, and walked when she was ready. Clearly she does things when she wants. If she wants to use the potty then get the stickers ready and make a trip to Target for the training pants for during the day because at night she probably won’t get up even if she wasn’t in a crib. Good luck and don’t worry about. You and Driver are great parents.
The different ways that Moms and Dads look at developmental milestones seems interesting. Moms seem to focus a little more on what the child is moving away from and the dads seem to look at the milestone as more like the accomplishment of a goal. Maybe that's just our house, but I have a feeling it could be universal.
Thoughts?
Post a Comment