Alrighty, then!

For those of you who don't know my daughter, she's a bit headstrong. She has no problem letting you know what she wants, and she's getting more verbal (and more determined) every day. I know this will be of great benefit to her one day - but I mostly don't like it when she uses these tactics on me. After all, I'm the adult (most days). Well, tonight, this skill came in kind of handy for her - and for me!

Note: For those not accustomed to the very open dialogue moms often have about the bodily functions of children, stop reading now. You have been warned.

OK, so I'm reading a book while my dear daughter plays in the tub for a bit before the actual hair-and-body-washing-negotiations begin. Pretty normal, run-of-the-mill evening, right? We did our usual let-her-sit-on-the-potty-and-shove-tissue-squares-between-the-knees thing while I ran the water into her semi-bubbly bath. Then, she's ready to get into the bubbles and splash around a bit, and I pick up where I left off months ago in "How to Make Your Children Mind Without Losing Yours." I'm making pretty good headway for not having picked the book up in ages - still awake enough that I'm not reading the same sentence over and over without it making any sense - when my growing girl says, "pee pee." I look at her - notice she's holding herself "there" - and say, "Yes, that's where the pee pee comes from," and go back to reading. She waits a moment more and does it again. So, only partly concerned that I'm about to open the door to more potential tp waste, I ask her if she wants to sit on the potty and try to pee pee. "Hessssss!" is her enthusiastic response. (In 20-months-old-today-speak, that's a big 'ol "Yes!") So, on the potty again, dripping wet from the tub. She asks to wrap up in a towel (a trick she learned at her last bath when I put her on the potty post-bath and was afraid she'd get cold. She's got a bit of a track record with peeing on the floor after bath time if she doesn't get a diaper fast enough. I thought I'd give it a shot, you know? So far, nothing doing.... But I digress....). So, she gets the towel and milliseconds later, asks for some tp. I give her a few squares, then take it off the holder so she can't waste too much more, since she can reach the holder from her perch atop the BIG potty. Then, she gives me back the towel and suddenly, she's actually peeing in the potty! She goes a bit, then stops - and I'm woo-hooing and clapping and have that huge, silly, mommy-grin - then goes a bit more and stops, then a bit more before she's done. The house is quiet enough that I can actually hear that there's something going into the potty. The whole time, I'm clapping and woo-hooing, she's grinning and clapping, too. Then, while we are clapping hands and all excited, she says, "Toot toot." Yep - the girl passed gas, too, and told me all about it! And all the while, the boys are downstairs, oblivious to all of the celebrating going on upstairs. So, we had our just-the-two-of-us celebration, then shared the news with the boys once my little one was wrapped in a nice, dry towel.