Lesson 1-Potty Training

Here are some helpful tips for anyone out there raising a son…  I have learned them the hard way.  Now remember as I write this he is only 4 and a half…  so over time I may come back and update this!   Now – on to what prompted this post tonight…

Potty training… Now, I was lucky enough when he wore diapers to never get that little shower that so many people have gotten!  But I haven’t gotten off scott-free…  so here are my three potty training tips for boys…

1. Teach them EARLY… Seat up to go, Seat down when done, flush, wash your hands… it’s a good mantra  (has worked for us! Flushing is still an issue, but getting better!)
2. Try to get them to aim in the middle.  We are still working on this one.. He seems to still think if he doesn’t hold it and doesn’t flush, he doesn’t have to spend time washing his hands! )
3. Never talk to them while they are going… they WILL turn to talk to you!!  Just hope you aren’t wearing really expensive shoes that would be ruined!

Now those are the tips… Here is the latest I have been dealing with though… Not sure what the tip will be… but figure it will be something like the mantra in Number 1…  So the issue seems to be that I need to RE-clarify what seat up means…  it means BOTH seats…  Unfortunately, I have gone into the bathroom a few times recently, sat down, and jumped right back up because the seat was wet…  Seems he lifted the lid, but not the other seat and since we are still working on Number 2 and 3…  well you get the picture!

Can’t wait to see what is next!

Did I do that?

I don’t know if this happens in every family – but it ALWAYS happens in mine when new people are introduced and we are all gathered….

The childhood ‘funny’ stories all come out.

What I would really like to know though, is… didn’t anyone else but me do all of the bad, embarrassing, funny things???

Really?  I got reminded of all of these stories again over Thanksgiving when my aunt brought her friend to our gathering…  Don’t get me wrong, I think the stories are funny too, but it is a little surreal sitting there while people are screaming “oh, I got one…. remember that time Shelly did…”  So here are a few excerpts of those stories…

I was 4 years old, we were out of milk, Mom and I had a really bad car – hard to start…  so in my pajamas, we went to the 7-11.  Mom ran in, left the car running…  and I am so old that back then – we were NOT in car seats, so somehow I took it upon myself to climb into the front seat, put the car in gear and drive through the 7-11.  All I remember about the incident was a display of Legg’s pantyhose flying out in front of the car.  My mom’s favorite part of the story is that she grabbed me out of the car, made sure I was ok, set me on a counter and dealt with the police, the owner and the people we had to pay to come board up the store.  After all of that, she came back to get me… and only then realized that she had set me on the ice cream freezer and I was so upset by the incident that I didn’t say a word, but I was very cold!

I think on this one, I was 4 too.  I was in the grocery store with my mom, aunt and grandmother…  I was acting up (surprise) and my mom leaned over and said, “If you don’t stop doing that, I will beat you to death”  So I started screaming at the top of my lungs, “Mommy, don’t beat me, don’t beat me”  They couldn’t do anything but laugh.  You may be asking yourself why this is funny… it is because my mother never spanked me – and she definitely wouldn’t have beat me…

Next… Traveling on an airplane with my grandfather, who to put it mildly, drank… and also flirted a lot with that great southern charm of his…  Well according to reports, there was some flirting going on between my grandfather and a woman behind us.  She said to me “Oh, what a cute little girl” to which I replied “I don’t like you”. I am sure there were other things – because when we landed my grandfather said he would never fly with me again… I have no memory of this

I think that is enough for now…