30 Minute Increments

My life has now been split into 3o minute increments of time. Sometimes it may go for as long as 45 minutes, but never beyond an hour. Do you know how many times you pass the 30 minute mark in just one day? LOTS! Over and over again, I hear the ding of the bell signaling that 30 minutes has just passed. I never thought my life would finally get to this point. But after over 9 years of changing diapers, I may finally be free of them forever!

Oh what fun potty training is! We've been out of diapers for two whole weeks now, only using them for sleeping at night. Zechariah has been a joy throughout the entire experience, and has had me laughing quite a few times. At the very beginning, we had some misunderstanding on what the purpose of wearing big boy underwear really was. The first day, I told Zech, "You cannot pee in your underwear; you must do it on the toilet." And every time I would ask him the next question, "So where are you going to pee at?" He would respond with a big smile, "In my underwears." Over and over again, I would try to get him to say, "In the toilet" and every time he would just smile and say, "NO. I go in my underwears." He really didn't seem to grasp the concept that the underwear was different than diapers. He just thought they were a cool new thing to wear and pee in.

Now so far, things haven't gone perfectly, but considering Zech doesn't totally grasp the purpose behind the underwear, I think he's done great with it in just two weeks. On most days he can actually make it the entire time with no accident. And he's never had more than one in a day. One of the funny things about the accidents that he has had, apparently he remembers which pair of underwear it happens to. I always wash the dirty clothes, and I never make my children reuse them if they have gotten noticeably dirty, or wet, and certainly we never reuse our underwear after a day. Earlier last week, I tried to get Zech dressed in the morning with his new fresh underwear and he started freaking out! He recognized them from a few days before, and must have been under the impression that underwear is disposable. He kept crying and saying, "No, Mommy. Them underwears are yucky. No! No!" It was pretty funny, and eventually after we smelled them, and felt them, he believed me. "You wash them. Okay. You wash them."

The first time Zech wore his "big boy underwears" to church, he was so proud. He had no idea that it's not very polite to show off your underwear to people, so that didn't stop him from doing it. Everyone he would see he would tell them, "I wear underwears," and then he would pull down his pants to show them. I think most people didn't mind, and appeared pleased that he was so proud of himself. The funniest time was when he was trying to show it off to a grown-up friend, and accidentally pulled both pants AND underwear down to expose himself to her. She just smiled and acted very proud of him too! What a good friend!

Another misunderstanding we've had was because of my lack of using the correct words. I never told him clearly enough what pee was and what poop was. To him, I guess it has always just been "Did you go potty?" or "Are you stinky?" I should have done a better job explaining the body parts and what they do. We had a funny experience when we were out shopping last week. We, of course, share the same stall in the bathroom, and I even like to wait to flush the toilet until we're both finished. Well, Zechariah was really mad at me this time. He whined, "NO, Mommy. You peed on my penis." And just to clear that up for you, no, I did not pee on his penis. I guess he just didn't know that his penis is permanently attached to his body, and it's pee that comes out of it and gets flushed down a toilet!

We've had so much learning and laughter over the last two weeks. I don't remember having this much fun with my older two children. At the beginning, I was giving Zech a piece of candy for going on the potty, but after you've started going potty every 30 minutes, that's just too much candy for a little guy. Now it has been changed to pooping on the potty. I thought this would keep Zech from getting too many sweets in his diet. However, that was before I knew my son had a gift. I don't know about you or your children, but my son can poop something out every single time he goes on the potty! He's like a little factory, and he can always get the results he wants. I end up giving him a piece of candy every single time he sits on the potty. What's even more amazing, if he accidentally flushes the toilet before I've made my inspection, he can just climb right back up there and go some more. Now I believe that is talent!

Zech is a very positive, happy little guy. I guess it's only natural that it would come out in his bathroom habits too. There are many times when I hear Zech in the bathroom talking to himself. He will be yelling excitedly, "Poop is coming! It's coming! It's coming" and then it's, "More poop is coming, Mommy!"

I don't know who it was that taught my son about the fan in our bathroom, Titus says it wasn't him, so who knows? Every time Zech runs in there, he yells, "Mommy, turn it on! Poop fan on!" He must have that fan on when he goes. He will sit there and wait until I turn on the "poop fan" every single time. I always have to laugh at him because when you're pooping every 30 minutes, there is not much that comes out, and a "poop fan" is totally not necessary.

One of our latest potty issues has been washing our hands. When we're in a public restroom it is so much fun to try out the new soap and use the new hand dryers. Zech especially loves the dryers out at the mall, where seconds later your hands are totally dry. Now at home, where things are not new, and they are not exciting, we have trouble getting him to want to wash. Just 30 minutes ago, on our last trip, Zech informed me, "Mommy, I like my poop on me. I luuuubbbb it. I lub it."

What a kid! He is such a joy to raise, and I just luuuubbb him so much. I hope I haven't offended anyone with all my bathroom talk. It's just been the highlight of our lives this past couple weeks, and I've been enjoying watching my son grow up. He is no longer my little baby, but now my big boy who wears "UNDERWEARS." I am so proud of him!