The Other Part of Potty Training

As a mom you relish the thought of that wonderful day when you no longer have to change diapers. The day they finally "get it". You think it will never happen. You spend long amounts of time in the bathroom anxiously awaiting just a dribble in the potty so you can jump and down and make a very large production out of your child's bodily functions. Never again in their little lives will someone ever be so excited about their poop.

While the excitement of no more diapers is a grand thing, there still is one more little task to potty training. You must teach them to wipe. Seems simple enough. You would be mistaken.

This process lasts quite a little while. At first you do it yourself all the time. I mean, their little arms just aren't long enough to adequately get the job done. Not to mention, that if you give a three year old free reign over the toilet paper, you will have a stopped up toilet. Gradually you try to show them proper technique. With girls, off course, there is more "area" to be careful of. With the boy it's a matter of not getting poop on his little jewels or up his back. I'm not having much luck teaching him, I will be honest.

One particular morning I was awakened from a nap by the all too familiar, "Momma, I poop-ed." I write it this way because he emphasizes the ed. He says it like you would say phys ed, like it's two words. I, without thinking, and a little agitated at being woke up, tell him to wipe himself. I knew as soon as I said it that it wasn't a good idea just yet and got up to do the deed myself.

Later that same afternoon I was sitting outside and I hear giggles from Gracie and her friend. I ask her what is so funny, and she says, "Look."

I turn around to see Colin with a long stream of toilet paper in his hand, waving in the breeze. With his pants and underwear around his ankles, he hollers, "Momma, I wiped my butt!"

Oh, good Lord, he chooses now to listen to me. I guess you can't pick your moments.