Happy Place

We did "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" this last weekend with my second, who is recently 2 years old. It went great on Saturday, she even did a poo poo in the potty that morning right off! It went great Sunday. It went great Monday. Which brings us to today . . .

It didn't go great today. I think her troubles were a combination of having to go poo poo really badly, but being afraid to do it on the toilet and having a little boy here that we babysit that she likes to play with, therefore providing a distraction. Whatever the reason, she went through 4 pairs of underwear today! Add that to me being sick and sleep deprived having been up most of the night with our 10 month old who is also sick, children fighting all day, baby being super uncharacteristically clingy, said potty trainee saying she has to go to the potty every 20 minutes and only actually going half the time (more details to come), and baby trying to follow trainer and trainee into the bathroom every time and then falling down the stairs (only 2) when unwatched . . . well . . . I think it is safe to say that today was less than good.

I think I finally lost it after about the 10th time (before lunchtime) that I had cleaned remnants of poop off of trainee's bottom because every time she went to go potty, she would stop herself out of fear. At that same time, baby hurt herself again and oldest and boy we babysit both needed me at once. What did I do? I looked up to the ceiling and I clenched my fists and I screamed. Nothing in particular. I just screamed. Loudly.

Fast Forward.......................

At about 4:30 pm, Trainee said, "Mommy I need to go poo poo!" And she finally did!! I was thrilled. We all cheered and celebrated. Good job!

At about 4:45 pm, Trainee came into the kitchen where I was making dinner and with a concerned look on her face, looked up and me then down at her panties and said, "Mommy, what happened!?"

Well, I'll tell you what happened. She pooped her pants!

We went into the bathroom and I did my best to handle it calmly while still relaying to her my huge disappointment. She was seated on the potty while I was kneeling down in front of her cleaning up poo, when I look up to see her staring up to the ceiling and singing a rather sad sounding version of, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, How I Wonder What You Are . . . " She then sorrowfully looked down at me and said, "I so sorry mommy."

I guess she was finding her happy place after a rough day.

Perhaps I should re-examine my happy place and choose one a little more gentle than screaming.

And one more thing . . . how is it that I nearly always learn more from my children than from almost any other source? The only answer I can come up with is that they are closer to Heavenly Father than any other source.