Potty Parties and Little Mommies

A couple of weeks ago we had our first “Potty Party” with the girls. We called it Potty Party for their sake; it was basically “run around naked for two days and see if we can teach you to pee in the potty before the weekend is over.” At the end of the weekend we determined that Turtle was ready and Monkey was not, so we have been moving forward with Turtle ever since. On Tuesday of this week she graduated to her Dora underwear, and now wears diapers for sleeping time only. We have barely left the house this week so I’m not really sure how the underwear will hold up when we return to our normal routine next week, but there is no going back now.

I really couldn’t tell you when Monkey will be ready. All I know is that until she decides that it is her idea to use the potty, she will be using her diapers. Her flailing, kicking, and screaming when we tried to get her on the potty (and her complete lack of concern about repeatedly peeing all over herself and the floor), was sufficient to convince me to leave the girl alone for now. She’s been lobbying to wear the Dora panties over her diaper, but I’ve held firm that Dora panties are only for girls who go pee-pee in the potty every time.

Speaking of Monkey’s dramatic flair . . . there has been an interesting new game going on around here. The girls take turn playing Mommy to each other. They “hold” each other, “feed” each other, and the other day I even found Monkey helping Turtle go poo-poo on the potty (for real, not for pretend).

I have often thought Monkey was “playing” me with her screams of “Mommy Hold, Mommy HOLD!!” and other “Mommy!”-type screams, and now I know that I am right. I heard her screaming the other day and I ran to find her, only to see her holding her arms out to Turtle. I said, “Here I am, honey,” and she said, calmly and dry-eyed, “No. Turtle-Mommy!” Then she went back to her screaming. Turtle walked over, put her arms around her, and said, “It’s ok baby, mommy's here. Calm down. Calm down.” Then they continued on with their little game.

Now when I hear Monkey screaming I say, “Do you want this Mommy or Turtle-Mommy?” And I dance a little jig every time she says, “Turtle-Mommy.”