Potty Time

We've been trying to potty train Olivia.

By 'we' I mean, my mom and I have been trying to work with Olivia so that she recognizes the urge to pee and tells us when that happens.

And she's doing well. She is...when my mom or I are around to remind her to use the toilet.

Tom? Well, he tries. But when the girls are in his care, he's often busy around the house and not paying attention to the cues that Olivia gives.

And she does give cues. I've learned that if she comes up and just stands beside me, she has to pee. If she's pulling at her clothes around the crotch area, but not pulling at her actual crotch, she has to pee. If she's leaning against something with her head down, she has to poop.

See, this potty training thing is a lot of work! Not for the kids but for the adults in their world.

We have to keep vigil on these little trainees.

When we were working with Alyssa, there were times when I was ready to just throw in the pee-soaked towel and just put a diaper on her. No one ever goes to kindergarten in a diaper, right?

Except...well, Olivia has 5p-. Which means she has universal low muscle tone. Kids with 5p- often don't achieve full control over their bladder/bowels until the early teens. Olivia is three and a half.

Low muscle tone means she might not be able to hold her pee as well as typical kids her age. It also means she has to work harder to poop than others because 'universal' means she's weak all over, from the inside out.

But she's doing it! We've been working with her for three full weeks now and she rarely has an accident when in the care of me or my mom. Tom? Well, again, he's often busy and doesn't ask her as often as she needs to be asked. And he takes no for an answer.

I don't. I'll ask her if she has to pee and if she says no, I accept that. And then I ask her ten minutes later. And if she says no this time? I'll suggest that she try to pee anyway. She's been known to protest, saying, "But I don't hafta pee!"

And I'll tell her, "I know, but try anyway, okay? Please? I wanna do the pee pee dance."

And she tries. And she pees. And I dance. And we high-five. It's awesome.

I'm very proud of her. She's trying very hard and doing very, very well.

And this time around? Yeah, it's still a lot of work. But having gotten beyond diapers with one kid, I know that the work is worth it to be diaper-free. I can't wait for the day that O is wiping her own butt too.