Where does the time go

Wow, it's been a long time since I started this blog. Not too terribly much has happened, but then I started thinking about the small things.

My son managed to break his collarbone, giving us another exciting opportunity to visit the children's ER. I only waited 2 days after it happened to take him. I am such a good mother. (Actually, it happened at my mother's house and she told me he was fine. Why shouldn't I believe my mother?) But he wasn't in much pain, he just couldn't lift his arm up. It only took a couple of weeks to heal.

Thinking about what in my life could be considered an inconvenience, and that I should instead look at as an adventure led to some interesting pathways. I decided that all of motherhood could be placed under consideration. My number one(and no.2, I suppose) inconvenience would be potty training. I think my son may have the world's record for longest time spent potty training. He is a very bright child(and I have the test results to prove it), but the potty dilemma has just about undone us all. I spent the first year of training convinced I was a horrible mother and person. It seems so simple. You just go. I was on the verge of taking video to send to Dr. Phil when we had our tinkle breakthrough. We would spend 2-4 hours(yes, I said hours) in the bathroom. It was not a pleasant let's read books and sing songs kind of time together. It was plain ol' hysterics every time. And he would have to go so bad he would be in pain. For a long time I gave in, I didn't like seeing him that way. So I finally had one of my best brainstorms ever. I paid my sister $50 to get him to tinkle in the potty. She did it. It took 2 days, lots of screaming, and lots of kool-aid. That was last summer. We've had a lot of set backs. The first day of school his teacher sat him on the potty and he went all over the floor. (He was trained to stand) So for months he would not even consider sitting down because he knew he would go on the floor. It hasn't been until the past few weeks that he has decided it is ok to sit. Mostly because my dad sat in the bathroom with him for over an hour one day. But we still have to put on a diaper to do the deed. For a child as smart as he is, I just don't understand. But I finally realized it wasn't me. It's him. Ok, so it was partly me. He didn't really talk until after he turned three and never communicated his discomfort or that he needed to go, so I put off the whole ordeal until he could communicate.

What's the moral of this story. I guess it is that I should find the adventure in potty training now that my daughter(age 2) is interested. She loves the potty. Today she snuck in while her brother was tinkling and flushed. He hates that. She hasn't figured out yet that she can't stand up and go. A few days ago we were outside enjoying the weather and the kids were in their little pool when the boy had to go. His daddy showed him how to go on a tree. I wasn't sure he would do it since he is so very rigid about rules, etc, but he did. So his sister decided she needed to go. So I pulled down her diaper and she stood at the tree with her stomach thrust forward (like her brother does). Fortunately she didn't go, but her father and I had a good laugh.