It's about time!

I finally started potty training with Ian this week. Well, really we started on Friday, but the weekend put a damper on our progress with our trip to the caverns and other stuff, so we're back to it in full force this week. I figured it was time when I kept getting well-meaning comments like "how's potty training going?" to which I'd be forced to reply "well... it's not." Yes, he turned three in May, but can you hardly blame me for waiting until we were settled after a move, a brief stay in an apartment, and all that unpacking?! But, now we're really working on it. We've had quite a few "accidents" (I'm suddenly very thankful that our entire house has wood floors!) but I think he's really starting to get the hang of it now. We had one big oops this morning, but since then he's successfully told me of his need to tinkle and performed marvelously four times!

There are definitely benefits to waiting until the kiddos are a bit older - they just get the hang of it much quicker. Sure, we could've really pushed them to go potty at two years old, but I guarantee you we would've had a lot more work and accidents along the way. Just my thoughts on the matter; although, each kid is different, and each Momma is gonna know hers best! So if you had your infant going in the potty, more power to you - but I think I'll wait a couple years, thankyouverymuch!

So proud of the big boy pull-ups. He especially loves the dinosaur undies he gets to wear around the house too!

Ian's "tinkle treats" - he gets to pick 3 each time he goes.

Funnily enough, Collin got this funny short story e-mailed to him this week, which he promptly shared with me:

***

My little guy, Cade, is quite a talker. He loves to communicate and does it quite well. He talks to people constantly, whether we're in the library, the grocery store or at a drive-thru window. People often comment on how clearly he speaks for a just-turned-3-year-old. And you Never have to ask him to turn up the volume. It's always fully cranked. There've been several embarrassing times that I've wished the meaning of his words would have been masked by a not-so-audible voice, but never have I wished this more than last week at Costco. Halfway, through our shopping trip, nature called, so I took Cade with me into the restroom. If you'd been one of the ladies in the restroom that evening, this is what you would have heard coming from the second to the last stall:

''Mommy , are you gonna go potty?

Oh! Why are you putting toiwet paper on the potty, Mommy?

Oh! You gonna sit down on da toiwet paper now?

Mommy, what are you doing?

Mommy, are you gonna go stinkies on the potty?'

At this point I started mentally counting how many women had been in the bathroom when I walked in. Several stalls were full ... 4? 5? Maybe we could wait until they all left before I had to make my debut out of this stall and reveal my identity. Cade continued:

'Mommy, you ARE going stinkies aren't you?

Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy!

Are you gonna get some candy for going stinkies on the potty?

Let me see doze stinkies, Mommy!

Oh ... Mommy! I'm trying to see In dere.

Oh! I see dem. Dat is a very good girl, Mommy. You are gonna get some
candy!'

I heard a few faint chuckles coming from the stalls on either side of me. Where is a screaming new born when you need her? Good grief. This was really getting embarrassing. I was definitely waiting a long time before exiting. Trying to divert him, I said,

'Why don't you look in Mommy's purse and see if you can find some candy. We'll both have some.

'No, I'm trying to see doze more stinkies.

Oh! Mommy!'

He started to gag at this point.

'Uh - oh, Mommy. I fink I'm gonna frow up.

Mommy, doze stinkies are making me frow up!!

Dat is so gross!!'

As the gags became louder, so did the chuckles outside my stall. Quickly flushed the toilet in hopes of changing the subject. I began to reason with myself: OK. There are four other toilets. If I count four flushes, I can be reasonably assured that those who overheard this embarrassing Monologue will be long gone.

'Mommy! Would you get off the potty, now? I want you to be done going stinkies! Get up! Get up!'

He grunted as he tried to pull me off. Now I could hear full-blown laughter. I bent down to count the feet outside my door.

'Oh, are you wooking under dere, Mommy?

You wooking under da door?

What were you wooking at?

Mommy? You wooking at the wady's feet?'

More laughter. I stood inside the locked door and tried to assess the situation.

'Mommy, it's time to wash our hands, now. We have to go out now, Mommy.'

He started pounding on the door. 'Mommy, don't you want to wash your hands? I want to go out!!'

I saw that my 'wait 'em out' plan was unraveling. I sheepishly opened the door, and found standing outside my stall, twenty to thirty ladies crowded around the stall, all smiling and starting to applaud. My first thought was complete embarrassment, then I thought, 'Where's The fine print on the 'motherhood contract' where I signed away every bit of my dignity and
privacy?' But as my little boy gave me a big, cheeky grin while he rubbed bubbly soap between his chubby little hands, I thought, I'd sign it all away again, just to be known as Mommy to this little fellow.

(Shannon Popkin is a freelance writer and mother of three. She lives with her family in Grand Rapids , Michigan , where she no longer uses public restrooms).

Hmm... on second though, a six-year-old in diapers wouldn't be out of the question, would it?!?