Scenes from potty training

Warning, this is a blatantly "mommy blog" post. Read at your own risk.

Campbell came home from preschool a week ago with strict instructions from his teacher that it was time for him to wear underpants from now on. I wanted to throttle the teacher, whom I otherwise love dearly. She also had Ella and Lily in her classes, and next year Elizabeth will be with her.

Since then, we've been in the throes of potty training the boy. If it had been up to me, I would have left him in diapers until he was old enough to change them by himself. I remember just how miserable the first month or sp of potty training is - puddles on the floor, loads of extra laundry, the threat of puddles on the floor in public places - and I just don't have the energy for it all. But now that we've started, we can't go back.

The first few days, Campbell peed on the floor more than in the potty. He'd sit on his little potty for ages - I'd let him watch SpongeBob as long he was on the potty - but then get up and walk across the room and pee on the floor. I wanted to tear my hair out.

We had a few temper tantrums (from Campbell, not me) about diapers. One morning he was crying for a diaper, and when I told him that his teacher said no more diapers, he said, "But my penis is cold!" I answered that underpants would keep him warm, but he wasn't convinced.

Half an hour after that, he came in the living room an announced that he had peed. I knew he hadn't been in the bathroom, so I asked him where the puddle was. He proudly said, "In the backyard! I peed in the grass."

Things are getting better, but I'm developing a Tourette's-like condition where every ten minutes I ask anyone in earshot if he or she needs to sit on the potty. I just now told Lily it was time to sit on the potty, when I meant send her to take a shower. She just looked at me and sighed.

Last night B walked in the living room and cracked up. Campbell had built an entire layout of his GeoTrax trains, and he was sitting on his potty with his remote controls spread out in front of him, running all of his trains. B declared it a little boy's dream come true.

While I'm glad that I'll soon have only one child officially in diapers, I am a bit sad about this. Campbell looks so much bigger wearing his underpants, especially when he pulls them all the way up to his rib cage, and he's lost that duck-like waddle that kids who wear diapers have. Plus, it's one more sign that my baby boy is getting bigger.

But my wistfulness will disappear when I have the extra $40 a month in my budget that I'm not spending on diapers. First, I need to get Campbell past the puddle stage.