Going Potty

That time has come around to potty training. Parents who have been through this process generally adopt a look of commiseration when you tell them this, or I have found that those who reflect on their own experiences age radically about ten years right before my eyes. I don’t really understand what the problem could be. How hard can it be to get your child to empty bowels and bladder on their potty? Well, very, is the short answer.

All that said, the process has been very relaxed so far. We’ve bought a potty, left it in the living room, and had Amelie sit on it a few times. We tell her to have wee, and she normally sits on it, stares enthusiastically between her legs, and after 30 seconds gets up and declares to us both, “I weed!” That the potty is dry as a bone doesn’t falter the smile on her face, or the praise we bestow upon her - and a few stickers as a reward for trying. In all, Amelie has actually weed thrice. There is something very exciting about this. I didn’t think the sight of urine would provide me with so much happiness, but these past three occasions have proved me wrong. Not too sure how my reaction will change once we begin “number two” training, but at the moment, she’s doing great.

Also, we all recently went to McDonalds. Shock, horror! I know, here I am preaching the benefits of having your child eat healthily, and how much hassle we’ve had getting the nursery to conform to our way of thinking, and we’re in the den of hydrogenated inequity. There’s no way to defend eating there other than it was cheap. Money, or lack thereof, can sway even the most rational of minds. We bought Amelie a Happy Meal. It came with one of those cheap toys, one we assumed would be something cute, or perhaps practical. Instead, it was a small music box that had a one minute recording of a famous pop song. The song was Jason Derulo’s Whatcha Say. There was no doubt the toy wouldn’t be of any interest to Amelie. How wrong we were. During the past few days we have been subjected to that excerpt at least four or five times a day. Amelie loves the damn thing! She’s also began to dance and sing to the song, using a marker pen as a microphone. It’s very sweet and makes Carla and I smile each time she does it. The lyrics are hard to understand through the cheap plastic speakers, so Amelie just mumbles a lot and finishes with a noise that sounds like “H-h-haaaayyy.” We’re thinking of downloading the song (and the lyrics) for a present. Maybe it can be her “deification” treat?