I mentioned a while back that I would share some of our potty training trials for laughs and to remind me not to even bother with the next kid until s/he is ready to leave for college. Well, one night I did that and then lost the whole post, so I shall try to attempt it again! If it doesn't work this time--it's not meant to be!
Right before we left Hawaii we had gone to the mall (groan) for something and while we were there Koa needed to use the potty and they actually had a little kid's size toilet in one of the stalls. The stall even had a sign that said "Keiki Potty" on the door. It was really cute. So, Koa used that one and then every time we used a public restroom in the future would say, "This is a keiki potty!" and was insistent that if it wasn't one of the really tall ones that he could "do it to myself". (Add this to the ways malls ruin lives!) As you can imagine the next several weeks as we were traveling, there were A LOT of public restrooms to visit.
One day while we were in Tennessee he needed to go to the potty and as I took him in there he insisted that I go in the stall next to him and let him "do it to myself". He had been doing a pretty good job of doing that and since I needed to go, too, I apprehensively went in the stall next to him after reminding him to scoot all the way back and point down! All of the sudden I hear and see this splash of "water" coming under the wall into my stall splashing all over the floor! I don't even know how this is physically possible considering the height and position of a tiny boy on a large toilet, but this child can defy gravity when it comes to these types of things, I'm convinced. So, I hurriedly told him to stay put and wait for Mama. He did and I came over to clean up the mess. While I was down on my hands and knees, in a public restroom with pieces of toilet paper wiping the floor, he realized he could reach the door from his comfy position and tried to close the door. He only succeeded in smashing my head against the wall! When I looked at him with fire in my eyes and started to scold him for doing such a thing, he said, "Mama, I make you crazy!"
Oh, how right he is!
When we got to Portland and had been here for several weeks, we were on Multnomah's campus for some event and as we were getting ready to leave with a group of people, I decided I better take Koa to the restroom before we left. So, I asked folks to wait on us and took him into the restroom with the very shiny floor.
He had had several weeks of practice by now and was doing pretty well by himself. So, when he insisted on going by himself I conceded (because, once again I needed to go myself and thought this would be faster...my naivety is almost charming, isn't it?) This time, however, he had figured out how to lock the door and insisted that he needed to do this--before I could stop him. I could see how this could be bad, but I confidently reminded him to scoot back and point down and went into my own stall.
Yep, you guessed it. Shee shee all over the floor again. This time, however it stayed in his stall. Which would seem like a positive thing---except, remember the shiny floor and the closed stall door. I explained to him that he was going to have to get down and open the door but would have to be very careful to not step in it! Wasted words. He stepped right in it and promptly fell to the floor, very upset. I encouraged him to get up and get the door so I could help him, but no progress could be made. Every time he stood up, he would fall down getting angrier with every fall.
Try not to picture this, it will scar you! Eight months pregnant mom on the floor, reaching under the door grabbing toilet paper and pulling it to the ground wiping up the mess (yes, this was one of the bathrooms without hand towels!), crying toddler sitting in it. At this point I was also laughing deliriously because, well, what else was I going to do!? Between delirious cackles I tried to soothe the angry toddler, but that didn't seem to help much. I was just very thankful that no one walked it on that scene. We eventually got everything cleaned up, the door opened and all of Koa's clothes changed. As I walked out shaking my head and laughing, Zak said, "What took so long?"
These are the times I hope the next child is a little girl!
