Growing pains

They say time flies when you're having fun. They reminisce and say "I remember when..." And they say "You'll never get those years back." Some of those years were hard, very challenging times and, while I appreciate how they've helped me become the person I am today, a part of me doesn't want some of those years back.

I have 3 daughters. Jennifer is 7, Sara is 5, and Anna just turned 2 this week. Anna has been starting to tell us when her diaper is no longer clean and fresh so we took this as a good sign that she's ready to start down the challenging road or potty training adventures. (Note the heavy sarcasm here.) Mandy has played the primary key role in this endeavor for each of our kids and previously for the 3 kids she helped raise when she was a nanny. So while I have played a supportive role, I am no stranger to "getting my hands dirty" so to speak in this task.

Jennifer was already potty trained when Sara was 18 months old and she, like many siblings, wanted to follow the example of her older sister, do what she does, go where she goes, and be grown up like her. Sara took the lead on initiating this process and did a fairly good job of ridding herself of diapers after about 3 days of practice.

While Anna has been giving signs that she's ready to take that leap from diapers to underwear, she's not as accepting of change and has difficulty letting it go in the scary water hole 2 feet off the ground where her legs dangle loosely. Even time spent on the training potty at her level that played a tune each time there was a deposit invoked a reaction that made you think the seat was made of ice cold razor blades that each rotated in place whilst at the same time alternating going up and down. (Yeah, it was that loud and that much of a fight as she struggled to run as far away as possible.) I can gladly say though that after one full week, only pull-ups go on at night, underwear stays on during the day, she typically lets us know when she needs to "go", and she's fairly comfortable sitting on "the big potty".

The whole point of this is that ever since Jennifer was born, we've almost always had to carry around this oversized bag that was meant to allow anyone to contend with any type of situation that could arise when away from the house, even if it was just a simple trip to the store. You've seen them, large enough to fit 2-3 adult human heads inside (don't ask how I know this). But what they really contain is something like 5 different outfits with even more diapers to for various times of the day, accidental messes (are there any other kind?), various items and methods for feeding and cleaning up after feeding the baby, etc. It's like a travel bag for a baby and if it were for an adult it would be good for a weeks vacation.

When Anna learned to walk that meant the end of always having to carry someone anyplace we went. Now that potty training is becoming a reality and it seems an end is in sight, the potty chairs can be disposed of and there's almost an end to the dreaded "diaper bag".