#1: This very well be the biggest and the stupidest. I'm a prude... to the point where Rachel has actually walked around the house giggling at me singing "I'm a Prude and I Know It" (tune of 'Sexy and I Know It") just because I can't handle nudity. The fact that there will now be man-parts being flashed at all hours of the day is a little too much for me to handle. Jeez, I don't even change in front of my wife and now Elijah is just walking up to me, whipping off his pants, and saying, "you want to see my [insert whatever you call it here] when I go potty?" Yup, I'm definitely not ready for that yet.
#2: It's a rite of passage. Granted, it's a rite of passage that everyone else's three-year-old has already hurdled, but we male Nimons have always taken our own sweet time with this one. (I could read and almost write the alphabet before I was potty-trained, which is saying something.) With the advent of this, I can no longer hide and pretend I have little boys anymore. Heck, Judah was grunting at the potty and tugging on his pants. God help us all.
#3: It's a total surprise... and on a week where I'm running around like a headless chicken (how's that for an appetizing metaphor!) trying to tidy up four jobs and prep for the arrival of the great GrammyPa (that's be two people, much like we are MamaDaddy) and GreatGrammaDale on Thursday, this one hit me like stepping on a rake-POW! I'm totally out of sorts.
#4: That's his potty face-- he always looks like he's meditating.
#5: I realized that I'm totally averse to change-- and like anything else that breaks up my routine, I'm having a brutal time of it. No longer is it change the diaper, carry on, it's a whole new fun way of life where we take off all his getup, he sits down for two minutes, demands that I leave because he 'needs his privacy,' (wonder who he gets that from?) and then gets bored while I'm in the other room and runs around naked until I realize that he's a high-risk candidate for watering the stove. While I get Elijah, Judah wanders in, picks up the potty and struts around like he's just won the lottery. (Thankfully, I don't think he fully understands the idea of a toilet yet.) Repeat this a few times, and I'm right back to the days of being the parent of a newborn-- wild hair, crazy eyes, and mumbling unintelligible things. So.... all this brings me to my point.
Against every fiercely independent fiber in my Yankee body, I'm asking for advice--what are some good tips as a parent to acclimate to this wondrous new world?? "Get over it!" has already been suggested, thanks very much ;)
Have a wonderful night all! (Oh, and I really am proud of my LJ-- he's pretty awesome in my book!)
Make sure you carry a 'pee can' in your car for awhile in case he can't hold it on longer trips.
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate with all of this. I potty trained Naomi last summer, and it was...er...interesting. I feel like so much of the challenge of parenthood is due to the constant change. No sooner do you think "all right! I've got this!" then they shift, enter a new phase, or whatever. I still haven't night trained her because I'm scared!! So anyway, no wise advice...just hang in there, and stock up on paper towels!
ReplyDeleteOh, and p.s. I remember you reading at a very young age. It was impressive!
--melissa
That's so awesome that he's into it and this doesn't have to be a multi-month process! (SJ basically refuses to sit on the potty most times! :)
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