You must be lost

I swear I had already posted this! Anyway, in the interest of clearing out the backlog...

I was having a rough day with Jonah yesterday two Friday's ago. He was increasingly defiant and suddenly, after several weeks of cooperating with potty training, had decided that he was going to revert to being a baby and consciously avoid using the potty. I went over the myriad of other things that go along with being a "big boy" versus the limitations of being a baby.

Nope. He's cool with that. Well, some of it.

Seeing the downsides to his choice to go backwards in life as I was trying to get him to help clean up his room, he pondered for a minute.

"No, I wanna be a baby while you're cleaning up [my toys]. Then when you're done, I'll be a big boy again so I can play."

On the outside, I wanna yell, "GO TO TIME OUT!" (But I didn't, I just kept working different angles until I found something to which he'd agree.)

On the inside, I'm saying, "way to try to logic your way out of that one, son." Also, "damn it, this kid is going to keep me on my toes."

His teacher relayed a similar story on Wednesday. He wasn't wanting to get on his mat for nap time and she typically counts down from 5 when she needs them to do something and they're resistant. She said he just stood there and she had gotten to 3, then 2 and she asked him why he wasn't moving. He told her, "I'm waiting for you to get to 1". She said she laughed and remarked to me that the thought processes behind that are pretty advanced. At home we count to 3. Generally at 2, he'll start doing what you're asking him to do (the consequence of reaching 3 is usually time out), but he'll often yell 4 at me as he does.

He knows his boundaries and pushes them right to their limits. It's nerve wracking for his parents and care givers, but he knows exactly what he's doing. It's the same as him going right to the edge of the driveway without placing so much as a toe in the street. That's a physical boundary that he toes quite deliberately (and literally).

By the end of the day we had a small victory and his excitement for the rewards of potty training were renewed. It seems we're back on track for now, but it's only a matter of time before his impulsive nature kicks in and he decides he doesn't care about the rewards anymore. Like I said, always on my toes. I have to constantly come up with new ways to keep him interested.

I can't help but sometimes feel like pointing in a mirror and yelling, "UR DOIN IT WRONG!" But, I'm at a loss for any other way to go about things sometimes.

Last night, Jimi had his front paws propped up on my lap while he was getting some attention. Jonah comes over and points to his exposed wang and asks, "what's that mommy?"

*sigh*

Without even pausing, I just say, "that's Jimi's penis, Jonah. Just like you have. That's what Jimi uses to go peepee, just like you do."

To which he replies, "Oh, Jimi's penis."

To which I mentally facepalm at hearing my 3-year-old son say the word penis clearly and confidently. It was all I could do to keep from bursting out in laughter, really. Then immediately following said hypothetical laughter with a distressed look to the heavens to ask, "what have I done?!"

He then asks, "where's Sunflower's penis?" Of course, I had to explain that she didn't have one because she's a girl and girls have a different part for going peepee. He proceeded to then expertly show off his knowledge of the proper places for each of the species under our roof to do their business. . .

"Mogwai goes peepee in the litter box. That's his potty. Jimi and Sunflower go peepee outside in the yard. Mommy and Daddy go peepee in the potty."

Then I ask Jonah where he goes and he claims, a little excitedly, "in my little potty." I had to correct him that he was still going peepee in diapers, but that we want him to pee in his "little potty" and it's something he's going to have to learn very soon. We talked about trying it this weekend. There's a technique where you just tell the kid, "no more diapers" and put them in underwear. They learn pretty quickly that they don't like being wet or dirty without a diaper. Unfortunately, this morning brings a setback to that plan.

I had every intention of beginning the diaper free weekend today, since there's no school due to this pathetic excuse for snow accumulation today. But it appears he's developed an allergy or intolerance of some sort to mango. The past several times he's had mango juice in any form, he's had, well let's just say tummy troubles. . . messy ones. The gas this morning woke him up an hour or so early and had him periodically crying. Then once that passed he fell back to sleep watching The Empire Strikes Back. ;) I'm kind of afraid to say, "no more diapers" and put him in underwear with something like this going on.

*shakes fist* Curses foiled again!

But anyway, about that whole, "my kid will know the proper words for things and other parents will hate me" thing. Well, he's well on his way to being that kid in Kindergarten Cop. You know the one. And neither of his parents are gynecologists as an excuse.