Endless Potty Training.

So, Owen hasn't napped in the past three days. I think his sleep is still messed up from our travels... and this is causing him to be more whiny and moody than usual. Anyway, I have to tell you about what happened this morning. As most of you know, we started potty training Owen on January 1st of this year. We had the usual early mistakes, but he took to it pretty well and he's been diaper free for many months (except for sleeping). Occasionally, though, he makes a mistake ( recently he's had a few accidents when he couldn't make it to the toilet in time after eating A LOT of very juicy watermelon). No big deal. We talk it over with him and he knows he's not supposed to do it, but we all know that sometimes accidents happen..

Well, today ( because of his sleep deprivation) he was particularly whiny and complained very loudly and unpleasantly every time I suggested he go to the potty. He woke up with a dry diaper, refused to pee this morning and then refused to pee all morning at pre-school. After a while I was getting pretty insistent because how long can a toddler hold his pee anyway? And Owen got very upset and SCREAMED SO MUCH I had to put him in timeout at preschool. Bad news. Finally I convinced him to pee before we left for home (it had been 16 hours without peeing).

We got home. We had lunch. Things were going well.

Next thing I know, Owen say "I have to go potty" and he waddles over to the bathroom in such a way that I know he pooped in his underwear. AARGH! Let's just say I was very upset with him. I told him I was very disappointed and generally voiced my displeasure at his obstinance. I left him on the toilet to finish pooping and went in the other room to take a deep breath. Suddenly from the bathroom I hear "Mommy.... I love you! Mommy? Don't be sad, Mommy. I don't want you to be sad. I want you to be happy."

Well, it almost made me cry.

Then we talked for awhile about why his refusal to use the potty leads to accidents which DON'T MAKE ME HAPPY!

He was very concerned about me and did his best to convince me that he understood. We'll see what happens next time. At least he's napping right now, finally.