Extra Curious, Extra Proud

A friend is busy potty training her son right now. It's so nice to be on the other end of this! It's my turn to sit back and laugh about the things her son is doing. Actually, she has a daughter a few months older than Linus, so she knows there's and end to it all, but she certainly doesn't feel that way right now. Linus has been potty trained for a few years now, but I remember the other side so well!



Linus was both proud and curious when she was potty trained. I'm a believer in waiting until the child is 1000% ready.



My mother reminded me on a regular basis that I was in panties at 17 months. Linus became interested in the potty when she was 15 months, unfortunately she didn't have an interest in actually using it herself. She loved to give a play-by-play of what somebody else was doing. At 17 months, she ran to her little potty, pulled her pants down, yanked off her diaper, and actually went in the potty. I hadn't forced the issue at that point (we simply had the potty in the bathroom, but she didn't really sit on it save for when she'd 'read' a book before getting in the tub), but since I felt like she was now showing interest, I went ahead and tried to potty train. That lasted next to no time. She clearly wasn't interested.



By the time Linus turned two, my mom was getting a little panicky that she was still in diapers. She kept insisting it would be easier to teach her young rather than wait until she was in a "no" stage. Even my friends who had children close in age to Linus were telling me that the "no" stage would make it impossible. I still just let Linus take the lead though.



I knew we were in for some rough times when her Mom's Morning Out teacher kept commenting on how well Linus was doing on the potty. I'd think to myself, well that's nice, but I think you're confusing her with another child. Linus doesn't use the potty yet. Yet they never requested more diapers. It finally dawned on me that she was going there, but not at home. I suggested getting some new panties and giving it a shot. "No, Mommy. I like diapers." There's something about your child speaking in a sentence and telling you that she likes diapers that just doesn't sit all that well. I'd suggest panties once or twice a month, but I didn't push the issue...



UNTIL one day she pooped in her diaper. I was in the kitchen on the phone with her pediatrician's office and I kept hearing the drawers in her room open and shut. I walked into her room to find poop everywhere. Wipes everywhere. As my eyes got huge, Linus smiled and said, "I clean it up myself, Mommy. I do good job. High five!" Um, no! No high five with poopy hands! Usually I'd handle something like that without blowing up, but as she ran to me and wrapped her poopy self around me giving me a huge hug, I lost it. "THAT'S IT! NO MORE DIAPERS!"



And that was it. No more diapers during the day from that day forward. But that's when the hard part began. No, the hard part wasn't training---it took none, she literally put on panties and never had an accident---it was keeping her dress down and her curiosity in check.



The first day (the poopy day, but all cleaned up and in panties) we went for a walk. She stopped my neighbor with, "Hi, S. I've got panties. Wanna see? Do you wear panties? (by the way, S is a guy, I'm sure he was thrilled with that question) Can I see them?" Then she saw somebody walking in our neighborhood that we'd never seen before. "Hi, I Linus. I got panties on. Do you? I got a princess. Do you? Can I see?" As we made our way back to our house, Linus and I had a little talk about keeping our panties status to ourselves. I thought she at least knew not to talk about it with others.



I was wrong. Oh so wrong. We went out to dinner that night to celebrate, and all went so smoothly...until she turned to the guy behind us and said, "I not s'posed to tell I got panties on. Can I pease see yours? I got princess. Here, look." ACK!



That's also the night her public potty obsession began. If there's a public restroom in sight, she has to check it out. YUCK! She still does tries to check them out. Luckily the child has a bladder the size of Texas. She can hold gallons in her little body. At least 80% of the time we can make it home without having to use a public potty. But still, yuck!



Now, at close to five, she no longer discusses her panties in public. She has, however, asked her dad if he wears panties. When he told her men don't wear panties, she asked him if he wears manties! Hahaha!