Skip to main content

Power of the Potty

Who knew that the potty could hold such drama and elation? Getting "G" to sit on the potty used to be such torture. It seemed the very seat had whine-producing barbs compelling her to plead her case in unintelligible phrases.

Forget the fact that the rewards of making a deposit were M&M's and even toys. This exercise was cruel and unjust in her mind of 3 years. Then, eureka! We stumbled upon the technique of counting. First, it was from 1 to 30. Then 40. Then 50. With the focus on counting and the verbally bindings keeping her on the potty seat, it became a game.

Meanwhile, at school (daycare) the potty training exercise is going to the room of relief every 30 minutes and sitting for 5 minutes. Conducting this routine at home is a bit of a military exercise with a digital counter. Baby steps...

The blessing is, we're almost there - really! She's making it through the days and night without a diaper sagging with fun. No amount of training, books, DVDs, or rewards can truly help a child become potty trained. One day, it just clicks and usually for #1 first, then #2 later.

Besides the potty, we are groovin along fine here in Columbia, Maryland. Kim has a new ride - a 2005 Toyota Highlander - due to the Honda Accord's transmission going out. We sold it to a gent from Pennsylvania. The Highlander was a blessing of find being about $8k off Blue Book and still looking and smelling like a new car. It's a sweet ride.

I still have the Toyota Solara, which has been a faithful vehicle of the hour each way weekday commute.

And it's finally getting coolish! Feeling like Fall, which always excites me. My favorite time of year…the colors of the leaves…the crispness of the air…the ghost tales that abound. Georgia will be Cinderella this year…very fitting alter ego for the little princess. She should really enjoy it this year, too!

Let's see if I can scare up another entry before Halloween.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

See You Around, Mike

Three weeks ago, I attended the memorial service of a dear Brother in Christ. Sunday, June 10, would've been his 56th birthday. I miss my friend. But what's sad is that I didn't miss Mike until he was gone. At least in the middle of the odd month, but definitely by the last week of it, Mike would always reach out to me with a request. It was usually to load a certain worship music video or some game show music. Sometimes, he needed some specific slides created or sound effects. Mike put a lot of thought into preparing the lessons. For certain lessons, Mike asked the kids to write something that was bothering them or something that was a sin. Then he had them take hammer and nail to that card and attach it to an old rugged cross. Mike often brought in props to physically connect the Bible stories to the kids. For example, when he dressed as an innkeeper and walked in a wheelbarrow full of fresh cow manure. He was adding the smell of a barn to the lesson just to help

May We Never Forget

On this 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, I'm posting below a story I wrote on the 10th anniversary. These are my reflections on that day.  Looking at the first paragraph, it's interesting how times change. No one has asked me questions of where I was or what I was doing. I'm not sure if many of us have forgotten but more likely we're so very distracted. We've navigated almost two years of a pandemic that's taken and changed so many lives. We've navigated political and cultural changes poorly and emotionally to the point of creating more divisions.  We are not the country we were the weeks and months after 9/11. The bipartisan efforts then were refreshing. The amount of American flags flying proudly and in solidarity was inspiring. Today, it seems many despise their own country and its flag. But even this is not new. While she has stumbled over the years and will continue to do so - America will always be the most amazing country in the world. It

Reverse Discrimination of Christmas

With Christmas slowly fading from your memory, did you find yourself this year taking a stand for Christmas? I'm not talking about stealing the stand beneath the Christmas tree. Perhaps you missed it but 2009 was the year of sticking it to retailers who refused to display or say "Merry Christmas!" Boycotting secular businesses because they aren't promoting Christmas: righteous or ridiculous? I'll vote for both.