Friday, January 19, 2007

At least it wasn't a frog

Dear Andrew & Abby,

Here's a new one. Yesterday, when I picked you up from day care, I noticed that Andrew's coat was wet in the corner by one pocket. I asked why and got the standard "I dunno" answer I love so much. So I grabbed it, trying to figure out how wet it was and I felt something a little crunchy and squishy in the pocket. And what do you think I discovered inside the pocket? Go on, guess! Well, when I pulled it out and asked Andrew what it was (not in the gee-i'm-confused-and-curious-as-to-what-i'm-holding way but more in the surely-i'm-not-holding-what-i-think-i-am kind of way), he said "It's a crystal." Sweet Boy, I love you, but that was not a crystal. It was a chunk of melting ice and snow. In your pocket. Inside. Melting. Honestly, when I first pulled it out, I thought one of the other kids must have put it there as a joke. Surely my almost-eight-year-old son knows what ice is! And what happens when you put ice in a pocket and then take that pocket indoors where the heat is! I was completely at a loss...

"Andrew, did you know this was ice?"
"I dunno."
"Where did you get it?"
"Outside."
"Where outside?"
"On the ground."
"Was it cold?"
"Yeah."
"Was it wet?"
"No. I swear! What?!"

Sigh.

And I have another new one. As I type this, Abby is sleeping in her "gib girl" bed IN UNDERWEAR. That's right. No Pull-Up. This will be our second attempt. The first try was Tuesday night when she was wearing her new Cinderella undies ("nunies") and didn't want to change before bed. I should explain: As of right now, Abby has been daytime potty trained since last fall. For the last several weeks, there have been no accidents during naps, either. But bedtime is a different story. She hasn't been able to make it through the night dry yet. So she wears Pull-Ups to bed. Until Tuesday. We were nervous, but we went with it. I put on the mattress liner, laid out another set of sheets, made Abby go potty ONE MORE TIME before bed, and expected a rough night. At about 3:30 am, I was awaken by a little whisper next to my bed, "I want a Pull-Up." Abby had had enough. She was still dry (DRY!!), but I think the anxiety was causing her not to sleep. So I put a Pull-Up on her and tucked her back in. In the morning, she was STILL DRY! And the angels sang and the sun shone...

Well, let's just say I was pretty excited. I was envisioning an end of the Pull-Up Era. So I went to the day care and bragged on my genius child. And so that day of course there was a little accident at nap time. Oops. It happens. It really isn't a big deal. It was just yet another reminder that Mommy knows diddly squat and should really learn to just sit back and wait. It will happen. Abby is not going to leave for college with a pack of Pull-Ups. Of course not, they don't make them that big. We'll have to move up to Depends. Hah! Just kidding!!

So anyway, here we are again. Abby chose to sleep in nunies again tonight. She was up to potty three times before she fell asleep. We'll see how the night goes. I have no expectations. And besides, as Steve oh-so kindly pointed out to me, I might actually be sad once the Pull-Ups are gone. It will be the end of the Pull-Up Era, yes, but that is also the end of the Baby Era. We'll be in to Little Girl territory. Wow.

Pretty soon, Andrew will start showing you where all the good crystals are for your pockets. You two are going to wear raincoats every day.

Love,
Mommy

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