Training

As a mother, I've learned that anything with the word "training" attached is something to be feared. First it's potty training (yuck!). There are always lovely accidents to clean up after. And then, just as you think raising kids isn't so tough, it's driver's training. The first will give you some gray hairs. The second will make you pull them out. I went through potty training three times. I can tell you that boys are infinitely harder than girls. When you're in the car and your little girl says, "Mommy, I want to potty"...you have time to find a clean place to pull into and assist her. With boys, it's a little more tricky. When your little boy says, "Mommy, I have to potty", it's generally followed in short order by "Oh no! I can't hold it!" or something similar followed by a soaking of the pants. Boys don't think about it until it's virtually too late. I always swore I wouldn't be a station wagon mom. The one good thing about minivans is that you can carry around a potty seat in the back and be ready at a moment's notice. Problem solved? Not quite. Getting them to the point of wanting to use the potty is another matter. We tried many things. I think for the boys the most successful effort came with food coloring. Boys are obsessed with their own urine. Yes, it's true. I'm not sure they outgrow that part, but that's for another day. With that in mind, if you drop one drop of food coloring in the "hat" of the potty seat, you can cheerfully say, "Hey, let's see what color your pee pee is today!" and it works for a while. You have to get creative and mix colors to keep it interesting, but the boys get quite proud when their pee is blue! Girls may require a little more ingenuity. Or not. I was all set up for the stickers and rewards when she asked out of the blue one day when we were dropping her brother off at school, "When do I get to go to school"? I replied, when you are age 3 and potty trained. "Hmmm", she said. Later that day she asked for her "big girl panties" and that was it. There wasn't another accident or problem. She just made up her mind to do it. She then stated that she was "ready to go to school". How do you explain to a child just over age 2 that age 3 is a year away? Who knew she could potty train in a day? If driver's training was as easy....