Saving the Environment

At least I am doing something small to save the environment.
We are potty training. We have been since we got home from the hurricane and Daddy was still off of work.
So-instead of using diapers, we use underwear. We are doing our part to be green!
Yet, I feel green inside.
Sean and I are worn out by potty training.
I cringe when Stephen starts doing the peepee dance or the poopoo dance. I almost instantly start shutting down emotionally. I am tired and weary. This has worn me down.

So, today I headed over to babycenter.com to fill my brain with global potty training ideas. I am reading it thinking it is awfully sunshine-ee and happy. I read that junk and picture happy little moment with my child with dancing, singing, book reading, praise, and visions of big boy-ness. What a fun hurdle to achieve together. So positive, so great. Babycenter tells you not to react to accidents. It cautions you that negative reactions could actually scare your child & prolong the process.

hmmmm....

Great. This is why I stopped reading stuff.
I feel guilty about my Mommy techniques because I have lost my patience with Stephen. Not once, not twice...but a whole lot.

Stephen is really great about holding it in. He has been great about holding it in most of his voluntary muscle life. This is why he gets a daily dose of Miralax and has been for over a year and a half.
Stephen is great about peeing on the potty. He can hold it all the way through school & gets home to pee on the potty. Too bad he has to go so bad that he doesn't tuck it in & usually pees between the toilet seats and all over the floor. Stephen even *usually* poops on the potty. But, many times, he poops a big amount in the potty & then a little while later poops some more in his underwear. What do you say about that babycenter? He gets rewarded and praised for poop in the potty, feels proud of himself...then turns around and finishes it off in his underwear, so he finishes the day on a negative. Beautiful.

I know he won't walk down the aisle in diapers. I know that I don't know any mentally healthy adults in diapers. I know that this process takes many children a long time and makes parents weary-whether you started at the ideal time or not. I hear parents wish that they would have been more calm throughout the process. I have heard it all. I really don't want to hear too much more. I just want this to be over. I want to move on.

But-at least we're saving money in diapers. We are helping the environment. I can be optimistic and positive if I try really hard.