Friday, July 16, 2010

Oh for crying out loud.

This morning I barely, barely remember R telling me good bye. Come to think of it, I think he's skipped a few days of that in the last week or so - BUT - I have deserved it. I wouldn't have kissed me good bye for a few of those days either. Between the allergies/sickness/whatever's going on with my immune system and my general crabbiness and short tempered tendencies, I haven't been the most pleasant person to be around. It happens. Deal with it.

So I was surprised when I rolled over this morning and heard, :whispering: "Moooooommmmiiieeeeeee".

Me: Uhnh

S: Moooommmmmiiiiiiieeeeee. Help me change my dress.

Me: :instantly alert yet suspicious: Why do you need to change?  (I crack open one eye and S is standing there with a pair of underpants and a gown in hand still wearing the gown and panties she went to bed in)

S: I wet

Me: :sigh: You had an accident?

S: Yes.

Me: Where? In the bathroom (please, please, please let it be the bathroom)?

S: No. In my room.

Side note: S has this thing lately where she does not want to sleep in her bed in her room. We used to have both her crib and her bed set up so if she gave us a hard time about not wanting to sleep in her bed, we'd offer the crib. This was terribly convenient until she potty trained, and then it meant I wouldn't sleep well because I'm listening for the potty yell. Kind of like the Rebel Yell (love me some Billy Idol circa the 80's). Plus, S's room is pretty small so it was crowded in there with all that stuff.  So! Since we were all crammed into a hotel room off and on over a couple of weeks, she's not so much about the sleeping alone. We've heard: I'm scared, I'm thirsty, I'm too tired, I'm hungry, I want to sleep in your room, I want to sleep on the couch, I want you to rock me, and I'm sure some others too. We, being the kind and loving parents we are, make her go back to her room to go to bed - even if she's screaming. Turns out the joke is on us, because Harry Potter obviously lends her an invisibility cloak at least once a week because we wake up and - voila! There is S asleep in our room. Sometimes on the floor, sometimes on the bed...but she's getting better at coming in and staying undetected.  Last night was a rough night getting her put to bed. Lots of screaming and crying and lots of carrying her up to bed again. And again. I ended up unfolding her kid sized futon thing for her to sleep on. And this is what she had an accident on. Sigh.

Me: Okay. Let's get you cleaned up.

We get her clothes changed and I survey the damage in her bedroom. I'm not sure the foam couch/futon thing is going to make it. I take the wet clothes and bedding downstairs and put them in the washer. I'm not sure what's going on with S, but it has to be something for her to all of a sudden start having accidents after weeks and weeks of having none.

When I go to pick up the kids at noon from day camp, the counselor tells me that S is in the bathroom changing because she had an accident.  Hmmm.

We get home and before too long, S announces she has to go potty but doesn't make it again.

What on earth is going on? Since I know she CAN go the the bathroom by herself, I explain in all my infinite parental wisdom that she's going to have to clean up after herself from now on. This? Did not go over so well. So after an impressive tantrum, an hour, a lot of lysol wipes, and a bath later, S and I made our peace. For today anyway. All I got out of her over the potty accidents? Is that she doesn't want to go potty by herself. Sigh.

Child, you are doing nothing for the stereotype that girls can't go to the bathroom by themselves.

2 comments:

Sadie said...

Potty training is such hell. Seriously. I imagine especially after you think you have it all down. Not that I would know....sigh.

Brooke said...

Potty training is seriously one of the most over rated things ever. I mean, kids spend 2+ years in diapers used to feeling wet and occasionally mushy, and then magically, they are supposed to sit on what amounts to basically a big hole and do their thing. Let's put some adults on a potty the ratio of baby butt to adult potty and see how many of us are all excited about the process.

Good luck. If I had any helpful tidbits or theories, I'd share but you see how well I'm doing over here. Sigh.

If it makes you feel better, T was over 4 before he was potty trainied. The advantage of a late potty trainer? He was pretty much trained in a day and has had very, very few accidents since.
But T had to do it on his terms, which is probably what's going on with S right now.

It will happen. It will.