From the minute I potty-trained Allie, all I heard was how hard it was to potty-train boys. I was VERY nervous....even though I still didn't have a son. Once Roman was born, I told Darin that I had potty-trained the first two and so the third was his and especially since this was His son! ;-) Yes, I was joking but half-heartedly hoping that Darin would take me up on this.
Fast forward to last week...
My sister Melissa and her family were visiting - yes I need to blog about those fun times - and Melissa suggested we go to Target and buy all the potty-training "gear" to get started. Since Roman LOVES cars we loaded up on them and one of his other loves, candy ;-). I'd been talking to him about it for weeks but unfortunately he thought potty-train was a real train! HAHA He was super stoked about The Potty Train. I was picturing myself bringout out our Christmas train and putting it around a potty chair in the living room....just wondering if that would be the secret combination to potty-training a man child.
Sooooo...the next morning we woke up and the diaper came off. I put him on the potty and said, "Hmmm, okay Roman so what you want to do is go potty in the toilet. Okay? Just do some peepee in there." Nothing. I wondered what I was doing wrong and how could I possibly explain to him what his body was supposed to do?! Voila, call Darin in.
"So Babe, I need your help with Roman. He doesn't understand what to do."
Darin enters.
"Okay Bud. So just let one rip. Just do a big gas and stink this place up."
Roman giggles and says, "Okay, I gas! I do a Daddy one!"
And he did. And he fully understood what body function went along with that. It was a magical moment between father and son....all the while, I stood back and for the FIRST time ever appreciated the Potty-Humor bond between Father and Son.
You see, since his first "gas" Darin has been laughing it up and encouraging him to do more and bigger. Roman has gotten so uh-hem "talented" at this body function that he'll say, "Mom, shhhhh." Then he leans to the side and (as Darin puts it) "lets one rip". You can imagine my pride as a mother.
That's all it took - aside from a few accidents he's got it down. He even wore underwear to church today and came home dry!
Moral of the story - Encourage your husband to laugh and joke about your son's gas....when it's time to potty-train you'll be glad you did!
