the Quiz says that he is almost ready, but not quite yet. however, being the ever-kiasu first-time mother that yours truly is, i’ve been psyching myself up for the moment, and thinking up of ways to tackle the issue when it comes.
it’s SCARY, you know, going through this for the first time, teaching a life skill. we take it for granted as adults, but to a child, it must be tough, having to learn it. i mean, there are SO many steps to remember – take off pants, wipe yourself, flush, put on pants, wash hands, wipe hands… and not to mention, having to actually HOLD THEIR BLADDER before they reach the toilet! gosh.
(as a side note, even the washing of hands bit is a problem to bigger kids. i’ve seen them kindergarten-aged ones do a pee-and-run, conveniently skipping the sink, thinking no one is watching, some even wiping their hands against the wall. arrgghh! HFMD, anyone?)
anyway, at the library the other day, more on a whim than anything, i’d picked up this cute illustrated book of a boy going on the toilet on his own, with his dog as companion, and his parents AND grandparents cheering him on and patting each other on the backs after he’d successfully done his business. the little one was eager to imitate, patting his diapered groin and making a whole lot of animated gibberish when we read it together. also, he’d been observing me (yes, me!) on the toilet doing MY business, and seemed rather impressed by my special “potty” in the bathroom.
ok, i thought, what the heck, let’s go Kiddy Palace and get a spiffy one for him.
so $5.90 later, he had a test drive…
*poke poke*
“seems comfy…”
“here we go…”
*oof!*
“hmm, fits my butt!”
the first few times or so, he played with it while bathing, happily scooping water in and out of it. i must say, it looked like fun. (then again, bathing with him is invariably fun, coz i have someone to scrub and splash MY back, for once.)
but today, he carried in his potty again, and this time, he ordered me to sit on mine while he did so on his at the same time. i did my exaggerated ‘teran’-ing ala hiro nakamura trying to teleport himself into the future, to emphasise what i’m doing, and he grunted along, facial expression and all – “ERRKKK!”
i didn’t think anything came out of him, but to my utter surprise, he stood up and i looked in…
(now, what kind of mother would take a picture of pee in a potty? why, only the blogger kind, of course, LOL!)
OI! NOT GROSS OK! 
and no no, that’s not my pee (or izad’s). really. sumpah.
i couldn’t help laughing and gushing at him simultaneously, coz it was just so… funny, and amazing at the same time. he was mighty pleased, but probably more because of my rapturous approval. i’m not sure if he really understood what he’d done, but i guess he got the concept of how potty makes mummy happy.
it just takes a bit of hiro nakamura-style ‘teran’-ing!
of course, i’m not gonna make him go all the time, not for now. i just thought i’d get him used to the idea of being able to control his bodily functions. admittedly, he still needs a bit of growing up to do.
plus, i need a bit of mental preparation myself. messy floors, dirty carpets, wet bedsheets, waking up in the middle of the night, etc… did i mention this whole exercise seems mind-boggling?
for now, i’ll just chalk this up as one of my many ‘experiments’ on my guinea-firstborn. hurhur.
ps: happy eighteenth month, babe! mummy’s gotta open a fresh new folder to dump your pictures in now. “aniq 18-24mths”. oh my.
Entries (RSS)