The Adventures of Potty Training

The adventures of potty training. Doesn't that make it sound so exciting?! Whoo-hooo!

I was talking with Little Sister. Well, I was kind of drilling her. I was frustrated with potty training and was trying to explain to her how it was supposed to work. I'd ask a question, correct her incorrect answer, then try the question again.

Me: "What do we do if we have to go potty?"

Little Sister: "Jump up and down."

"No. We go the bathroom, then go potty in the toilet. What should you do if you have to go potty?"

"Do like this." (Lifted one leg up.)

"No, that's how doggies go potty. You're not a doggie. You go potty in the toilet. Where should you go if you have to go potty?"

"In the living room."

"No, you go in the bathroom, in the toilet. Let's try again. Where should you go if you have to go potty?"

"I go over there."

"I know, that's where you went last time, but you should go to the toilet in the bathroom. That's where we go potty. We want to keep panties clean and dry. How do you keep your panties clean and dry?"

"I peed in my panties."

"I know you did. But next time you should go in the toilet so you don't get your panties wet. How do you keep your panties clean and dry?"

(Mumbled something unintelligible.)

At this point I was getting pretty exasperated and you could hear it in my voice. I wasn't yelling, but I started talking more quickly and firmly. I gave her the correct answer then asked the clean and dry question again, only it came out as... "What.do.you.do... to keep your panties WET and DRY?!"

(Blank stare) "...I don't know."

And I realized my fumble, tried to correct myself, then gave up for the day.

Extra points for me for making potty training more difficult and confusing than it already is! It's a miracle any of us are potty trained, really. I once heard that late/slow potty training was a sign of high intelligence. Maybe because the kid's focused on more intellectually important things? I don't know. I don't actually believe that potty training and intelligence have much to do with each other, but it does give me some comfort (even if it's falsely founded) to think that slow potty training equates to high intelligence. Because if that's true, my kids are freakin' geniuses.