8/26/09 Potty-trained?

Back-to-school night is next week, and creates a real dilemma for us. In past years, we always got some sort of childcare so that Dave and I could both attend the 45-minute talk by Gabriel's teacher in his classroom, in the evening. This year, Gabriel and Julian's back-to-school sessions are at the same exact time. I hate to miss one, but we'll have to split up so that one of us attends each classroom. But even with only one parent attending the classroom, we still have a childcare problem.

The answer presented itself today. The CDC, bless their entrepreneuristic souls, is putting on a back-to-school parent's night: childcare for two hours, including dinner. And, potty-trained siblings are welcome! I read the notice in passing, assuming it wouldn't apply to us, until I realize in joyous disbelief -- hey, that's us! OK, 80% potty-trained, but, close enough! But, they said as long as there are no diapers involved, bring her. Yay! I hope they don't regret it when they discover what a serious annoyance the boys can be with her.

(Their pricing goes up to 2 children -- apparently we're in the minority, as they didn't even have a provision for 3!)

Katrina's preschool also offers a discount for potty-trained kids. 80% is close enough, so in addition to not buying diapers, we'd save up to $100 a month in preschool charges, $30 with the part-time schedule she's starting next week.

I watched Katrina today at TLC taking care of business by herself. She's slow; she insists on carrying a particular footstool to a particular toilet, and she has to be shooed away from the sink where she'll play in the water indefinitely washing her hands afterward, but, she goes through the whole process entirely on her own. Actually, she hasn't had a pee accident in a few weeks, and she's getting better and better about finding the john for #2. I upped the ante from chocolate raisins to jelly beans, I think that will improve her success rate.

She's still not 100% done, but even if she night-trained tomorrow and never had an accident again, I'd still say she was the toughest of all of them to potty-train, mostly due to a resistant and insistent personality. (Julian was by far the easiest.) But in this day and age, getting all of them mostly done before age 3 is a decent accomplishment. And it's paying off!

8/26/09