The Diaper Files - An Update

The diaper dramas continue. You may recall last week I was going on about Little Miss' new developmental milestone - removing of diaper, well she's raised the ante.

Since then we've had a couple more instances of stripping down in the crib, the last one was this morning. We talked about it some more, sat on the toilet some more and I thought we were good.

A little while later I see her running around the house with no pants and no diaper on. We go back to toilet, no contribution made, but the effort was there, put the diaper and pants back on, have another little chat and once again I think we're good to go.

Cleaning up after breakfast, I'm on a call with the president of the board of directors for the kids' daycare, I go into the living room to once again see Little Miss with her diaper off and pants around her ankles. This time however, she's saying poopy Mommy, poopy. I quickly get off the phone and examine the situation a little closer.

Little Miss must've started to do a poo in her diaper and decided it best to finish on the carpet. Why her big brother didn't think to let me know what was going on, I'm not too sure! Anyhow, we have another really long talk, clean her up, clean the floor up and once again I think we're good.

Oh, yes, the diaper dramas continue....

At Costco (no laughing please), Little Miss was insistent that I let her walk. She promised not to run off. And, she did keep her promise - sadly it was because she was too busy trying to get her pants and diaper off in the frozen foods aisle!

All this BEFORE 11:30 am.

Guess my little girl is growing up and it's time to bite the bullet and start potty training.

At least I'll have no shortage of things to write in my blog!!

Minor rant of a delusional mother

At the Starbucks the other morning a man asked how old my kids were. I told him, 4 and 2.

He responds, "no kindergarden???"

I say "no"

Him: "what about pre-school or daycare?

Me: blank stare, start to say that they're in daycare 3 days a week, but before I could get the word daycare out he interjects with:

"when my kids were small they were in Gymboree and busy busy after that. all day. all the time..."

me: (realizing he doesn't want a conversation but rather to offer me his pearls of parenting wisdom, respond with another blank stare. All the while dying inside, wondering how much damage I'm doing to my children for not having every minute of their lives scheduled. After a quick mental self-slap I snapped out of it and continued to enjoy the Mommy & kids time I was previously enjoying)

Deep down, I know the man meant well. I'm sure he wasn't even passing judgement on my poor parenting skills (as my children were wreaking havoc at the Safeway Starbucks playing bumper cars with the "car" trolleys!). I'm sure he was lamenting how busy his kids were and how he had such little free, unscheduled time with his darling children. Yes, of course, that is exactly what he was thinking!!

diaper on, diaper off

Diaper on, diaper off.

The other night I went in to give her a good night kiss and she was completely NAKED. No diaper, no jammies, no nothin'. Just her adorable little tush sticking up in the air. And pee soaked blankie, hop hop and sheets, of course (mercifully no poop!).

After a long chat the next day, I thought we'd remedied the situation; and we did...

...until this afternoon that is.

I thought Little Miss & her big brother were playing nicely in the living room while I was getting their lunch ready, until it got really quiet.

When I came into the living room Little Miss had taken her pants and diaper off and was squatting on the carpet. Thankfully she didn't pee or poop on the floor!

Off to the loo we went, but nothing.

I'm afraid to leave the house, for fear that if I turn away for a minute she'll be stripping down in Costco or Safeway (yeah, we really live the fun life!!)

I'll keep you posted ;-)

When I'm Five

Little Mr. Man announced that he thinks wearing underwear to bed is a good idea. When he's 5. He just turned 4. He wears pull-ups to bed.

Up until that announcement he's never even expressed the slightest interest in night time potty training. He seems quite happy to pee in his pull-ups.

Of course, I've been reading about this issue for quite a while. All my friend's children seemed to start staying dry pretty soon after they mastered daytime potty training. No one's seemed to have any issues. They're kids just stopped peeing at night. Easy Peasy.

So, as any self-respecting, loving and caring mother would do I turned to the Internet for guidance. Didn't find much help there either, although I did get a good laugh. Here's a highlight of what those in know have to say about the issue:

For starters, most discussions start by saying the "child needs to be developmentally ready". Apparently the development between bladder and brain in my little man is seriously out of whack with the rest of his development. This is the same child that went downstairs and fixed himself breakfast this morning because he didn't want to wake me up. Without making a mess. He reminded me of this as I was getting him a second bowl of Cheerios and promptly spilled Almond Milk all over the table. Who's not developmentally ready?!

Other suggestions just make me laugh out loud! One of my favorites is the suggestion to wake your child before you go to bed. They say the child will be so sleepy they won't remember. They also say it won't do much in terms of getting them to stay dry on their own, so that you'll have to continue to do this until, well I guess, until they're developmentally ready. The part I find funny is that I don't usually stay up much past the little guy. In fact, my husband and I have both been known to fall in asleep in his bed before he does during our night time snuggles. I don't think this option will do us much good!

Another one I find quite funny is the suggestion to take your child to the bathroom if they come to your bed in the middle of the night. Right, so I'm to have the wherewithal at 2:00 am to not only calm him from whatever 'bad guys' were haunting his dreams but to also take him to the toilet?! I can't even take him first thing in the morning when he wakes up (another brilliant suggestion)! There's a reason why the little guy was making his own breakfast - Mommy doesn't do mornings (or middle of the nights)!

Clearly my sweet breakfast-making-little-man is not ready for night-time potty training. Not only has he never stayed dry at night, it really doesn't seem to bother him. I suppose it shouldn't bother me. Should it?

How have you dealt with night-time potty training?

The environmental cost of children

How my children are not eco-friendly:

From the uneaten food I throw out regularly, I think my kids must hate all living beings, farm animals in particular.

From the emptied out boxes of unused Kleenex strewn all over my house, I think my kids must really hate trees.

From the excessive water play and toilet flushing, I think my kids must really hate the notion of water conservation.

From the sand and grime my kids trek through the house, causing me to use the vacuum more than anyone ought to in one day, I think my kids must really LOVE hydro!

From the amount of colds and infections my kids have had in their few years on Earth, I think they must really love big pharma!

From the number of outings my kids insist on having on a daily basis, my children must really love Big Oil!