days like today remind me to focus on my mantra -- this too shall pass -- early and often. it's just that in this business the climate can change at the drop of a hat. with no notice. it is a fickle, precarious vocation. just yesterday, i was feeling content, capable, caring and even a touch carefree. by nap today, i had apologized to the kids for various parenting faux pas (yelling, crankiness, etc.) at least three times.
it all started with an early start this morning. even so, breakfast goes well and i decide to take the boys on a walk and try to find some ripe blackberries. i pile them all in the wagon, grab a berry receptacle and head out. now basil, our kitty, likes to take walks with us. this may sound endearing. however, i assure you, when i am already trying to keep three charges safe from harm, a fourth is not really what i need. nonetheless, he decides to join us today for our berry-picking adventure. i do indeed find a good patch of berries and the boys are content to hang in the wagon, munching berries while i pick enough for a small crisp (note to self, next time bring TWO receptacles). i see the cat wander into the yard across the street right around the same time that the sit-still-on-the-side-of-the-road limit is reached with the wee ones. i head towards home, plying the boys with more berries (watching my crisp get smaller by the minute) to keep them still. i call to basil to no avail and since we are on a pretty busy road i am a little concerned to leave him, but the natives are restless so i continue homeward. i tell the boys we are going to have to rescue basil as soon as we get home.
i get home, buckle everyone into the car and head back to retrieve my cat. all told it takes several drive-bys, a trip back to the house to get some cat food and bowl, more drive-bys and finally me looking like an idiot on the side of the road dropping cat food into a bowl all the while calling quite loudly to locate the little rat. mission accomplished...
we head home...now to accurately set the stage for the next phase of my day you should know that i am in the throes of potty training. this is something i have been alternately dreading and anxiously awaiting for, oh, about three years. i have no formal training, no manuals and it feels roughly as though i have been thrust into the cockpit of a 747 and told that i should take her down nice and easy. riiiiiiiiiight. and according to freud if i don't handle this right there will be long-standing psychological ramifications. great. in fact, the only thing i have on my side is that i have been cloth diapering since day one and i am no stranger to dealing with poop on a regular basis. i wouldn't exactly call that an advantage, if you know what i mean.
i started down this path in the same manner i start down most of my major-life-decision paths -- impulsively, naively and only minimally prepared. for example, when i decided the boys would be wearing undies except when sleeping, i owned exactly 6 pairs of size 2/3 boys briefs. for two almost 3-year-olds for whom the potty was a new acquaintance. yeah...doing laundry 3 times a day is totally practical. and i decided to let them pee at random outside...which resulted in the unfortunate attempt to POOP off the deck. so anyway, that gives you an idea of where i am since this all started less than two weeks ago.
so back to today. we are all safely home. no one has had an accident...which is good considering we were just in the car (oops). i am pretty hopped up on adrenaline from my gutsy rescue mission. and the boys want me to make the crisp. or rather they want to "help" me make the crisp. awesome. okay, let's do it. does anyone have to use the potty. no. no one has to use the potty. crisp in the oven. time to start lunch. does anyone need to sit on the potty? no, no, no. two minutes pass. two boys pee in their undies. i attempt, unsuccessfully, to not say "i just asked you two minutes ago if you needed to go in the potty!" continue on with lunch. a poop in the undies. just a tiny little turd. do you still need to go poop? no! are you sure you don't want to just sit on the potty and see? no, there is not more poop in my bum! two minutes pass. mom, i pooped in my undies... shocking. finish lunch sit everyone down for lunch. everyone wants crisp for lunch. no, no crisp for lunch. after lunch my other son won't get up. did you poop in your undies? yes. friggin spectacular. and finally, after i have gotten him cleaned up and i am in the middle of everyone's favorite task of swishing poopy undies around in poopy water in the toilet i am informed that the other one went poop and i seriously say to myself, in the bathroom, that i cannot take another minute of this when i realize that this time the poop is in the potty and this is the first time he has pulled down his own pants and pooped in the potty on his own and my heart soars. i am ecstatic. i am holding dripping poopy undies. and i need to get out more.
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