Potty Training Hell

JJ is in to his 3rd day of potty training. We yanked the diaps cold turkey, except for nap and bedtime of course. Our daycare basically took the lead and said they would be dedicating a week to each child in the class who is not yet potty trained, in preparation for preschool. This is JJ's week. Since we had not been pushing the issue at home, and okay, perhaps secretly dreading and avoiding it, because you know, he is still my baby....this was the push we needed. And hey, if they want to potty train him, I'm all for that.

Now that we are in the throws of it, I have to keep reminding myself that this is a process and not something that will happen overnight. But I'm starting to think this could take awhile. We have made some progress. On day one he did not even want to sit on the potty. Now he sits, (is not into standing at all), but not so thrilled about the idea of actually peeing on the potty. And in fact, will wait until he is off the potty to actually pee. He did poop last night on the potty, but I'm pretty sure that was purely an accident on his part. Though it did buy him a second dessert as a reward for all his hard work.

Sweet Pea trained much more easily. She pretty much trained herself at 2 and 1/2, despite the fact JJ had just been born. Other than a few snags with the pooping, I don't remember it being such a stressful experience as this. Though it is entirely possible I just blocked it out and I can only hope this too will one day be a distant and vague memory. There aren't many things I feel like Sweet Pea did early than JJ, and if fact, somethings he did much earlier, like talk. But potty training seems to be different. Maybe that's because as a mom, I can't totally identify with his peeing process, if you can call it that. (Or perhaps, referring to the first paragraph of this post, he has sensed my avoidance. Yes, I know, I am so smart like that.) Jonathan has tried to encourage him, man to man, (okay, man to 3 year old), and he likes the camaraderie, but still not so into the actual pee part.

We've tried the reward system, and it does work for him, as least at getting him to sit on the potty. Incidentally this did not work for Sweet Pea who is far too stubborn to be "bought." JJ just cannot relax enough while on the potty to just let it out. I find this a little ironic because he's my laid back, easy going child. Or so I thought.

And just to confuse him further, he'll be in a swim diaper most of the day today at daycare while they play in the kiddie pools. Because you know those diapers do SO much. But at least I won't be sent home with another days worth of pishy clothing to wash!

UPDATE:
When I picked JJ up at daycare I was told he pooped and peed several time in the potty. Since yesterday morning he has only had one accident. Yeah.....success!!!! I feel bad now having complained...after only three days with no diaps, he's doing pretty darn good!

5 going on 15

Scene: Two hour car ride up to NH to visit with friends. Two cranky kids. Hours and hours of traffic.



5 year old: When are we going to be there?

Me: Not for awhile.

5 year old: You are SO ruining my life.



Wonder what she'll think when she's 15 and we take her up to NH for a weekend. Oh....so much to look forward to!

It started off as any other day....

Well, maybe not EVERY other morning since I don’t always get up at 5:30 AM to go workout. But on this particular morning I did. And I came home and felt energized. My kids were up, dressed, and ready for school. My husband was on his way out the door to work. At about 7:20 AM I poured a cup a coffee and headed upstairs to shower. It was at this same moment a 15 year old boy was stabbed to death by a 16 year old fellow student, in the halls of a local high school. The same high school I used to attend basketball games at. The same high school that was the rival team to the high school I attended many years ago. If it could happen there, it could happen anywhere.

I thought about the parents of the victim. I thought about the parents of the alleged attacker. I thought about all those panicked parents waiting for word from their children that they were okay. And then I thought about my own children. This could have been them. Granted, they are not even in elementary school yet, but they will one day attend a school just like that one. There were no weapon detectors- and why would there be? This was a “normal” high school. How did this happen? What will they do to make sure this never happens again? I want to know. I want to know exactly what happened. What could possible have led to such a violent act. Surely there was some sign of what was to come. There has to be. Because if not, there’s no way to feel reassure about the future.

While I am sure it will be awhile before we know any details of this horrific incident, I do know that for those involved and near to the incident, this was far from being just any other day. It’s the first day to a journey one never could have imagined in their worst nightmare.