Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Let's go potty now, everybody's learning how...

Have I mentioned before that I'm lazy?

Is there a problem when I feel like I wouldn't mind continuing to change E's diapers until it gets to a point where she's too embarrassed to be wearing diapers to school and decides on her own to quit, just so I can avoid the fights and the stress and the mess involved?

And, while we're at it, it's okay to keep her in a crib forever, right?

Man, this parenting thing is just non-stop!

E's first introduction to potty-land happened quite randomly and unexpectedly about six months ago. She said she had to poop, I asked her if she wanted to go poop on the toilet, she said yes, she pooped on the toilet. Bam! Toilet trained, right?

This is where E shakes her head and sighs "Oh, mama."

What followed was a period of about a couple of months where she would pee and/or poop on the toilet about once or twice a day, basically when she felt like it, and we thought of it like a bonus and didn't push the issue. My *naive* thinking was that she would gradually do it more and more and then just stop needing diapers.

"Ohhhhhh, mama."

After that couple of months, she lost interest altogether. Getting her onto the potty was like pulling teeth, but once she got on she'd be damned if anyone was going to get her off. I like to avoid as many mom-baby standoffs as possible in my day, so I backed off. And so it went for a while.

Then, last week, she started showing interest again. And then I found a package of Pull-Ups I forgot I had. "Practice underwear", I called them as I pitched the idea to my hard-sell toddler.

M: Do you want to wear underwear like mama and dad?

She's no pushover. She fancies herself a doctor most days (when she's not a princess, or Old MacDonald, or an airplane), so she wanted some clarification.

E: Do doctors wear underwear?

M: They sure do!

E: I wear underwear too!

It's on! She loves wearing her Pull-Ups. She kind of gets that she's not supposed to go pee or poo in them, though that doesn't stop her from doing it. But she's been going pee and poo on the toilet about 4 or 5 times a day for the past three days, and that makes me excited.

I'm ready to step it up a notch, but in all honesty I've done little to no research and I have no idea what I'm doing. Have I mentioned that I'm lazy? I've heard lots of people talk about going pants-less as part of the process, which I think I'll try, but realistically, isn't this going to mean that I'll be cleaning up messes an awful lot? Should I put paper down? I'm only half joking. I get the distinct feeling that I'm about to wade in way over my head. And it's not water I'm standing in.

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