Friday, January 14, 2011

Raising Boys; it would've been easier to let him pee in the middle of the room...

This is definitely not a conversation that would occur for parents of girls...

The scenario: Our oldest woke in the middle of the night needing to pee. He sleeps on the top bunk and always hollers for me if he needs to get down to use the bathroom; something I appreciate and hate. I love that he doesn't try to stumble down the ladder in a sleepy stuppor and I hate that I have to get up. You'd think that I would give up and put him on the bottom bunk, but you see, he's afraid of the bottom bunk. He thinks that something creepy has to live down the crack by the side of the bed closest to the wall. So, getting up to take him pee it is.

If you know my son you know that there are some times when you just don't mess with him. If he wakes crying in the middle of the night that is one of them. He only wants Mommy, he doesn't want to talk to tell you why he's crying (usually because he has to pee), he doesn't want the light on in the bathroom, and heaven forbid you try to help him; all things I learned through hysterical grunts in the past year since he's been potty trained at night. This was one of those nights...

As he was peeing I knew he probably missed some. So when he was done, I scooped him up to take him back to bed and hollered to my hubby.

Me: Hon, can you please check out the bathroom to see if there's any P-E-E to clean up? (As most parents I usually spell words so my kids don't know what I'm talking about or so I don't embarrass them. But, why did I spell pee? It sounds exactly the same whether it's spelled or just said.)

Hubby: Sure

I come back out after about 5 minutes of songs and back scratches. And hubby is sitting on the couch.

Hubby: You know, next time could you have him just stand in the middle of the bathroom and pee? It would make it so much easier to clean up. It was everywhere; behind the toilet, on the seat, on the stand, on the base, on the floor. Everywhere.


Me: (laughing) Yea, I knew it was going to be messy. Sorry.

Hubby: Or, you could just have him stand in the tub. That would be even better. How on earth could he have been standing right in front of the toilet and miss completely? Um, don't answer that. (Pause) Why didn't you teach him how to point it down?

Pretty sure hubby must have missed the past year...like I said above, there are middle of the night times you just don't mess with our son.

And until he's older and my hubby can teach him I'm grateful for the back scratches and songs to keep me occupied long enough to miss clean up :)

Readers: What are your "raising boys" stories? Or for those with girls, what are your potty training stories?




© Transparencies of Motherhood 2011

14 comments:

  1. This is HILARIOUS! My little brothers have been this way since I can remember, it never got better, in fact it got worse!

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  2. Lol, this is definitely a boy conversation! I love it!
    With Georgia, my hubby (and me too!) was so surprised that girls can miss the seat too! Because she's so small, she sits on the potty with her legs straight out, which can make for a messy potty experience! She's only daytime trained right now, but I can definitely envision a mess in our future... :)

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  3. bwhahaha!!! THat's hilarious...because I have 4 boys!!! Why or why can't they aim that thing?? My walls, vanity, floors...have all been assaulted and terrorized by my little whizzers!!!

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  4. To, to funny! Bets on that there is a chance a sweet little girl would be so interested in the "way" her big brother(s) get to potty that she would try to stand up and go - and the results might be about the same ;-) Just maybe...

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  5. I'm not looking forward to training Roo. Maybe his sisters will do it for me?

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  6. My little guy isn't potty trained yet, but I can see a mess to be cleaned up in our future too. (Lots of messes!) Thanks for the forewarning. Oh, and I had to laugh at why your little guy prefers the top bunk. Yes, our imaginations can sure be powerful.

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  7. Following you now! This post is so funny and also so true! My daughter has some things I have learned along the way not to mess with. Have a great day!

    Mama Hen

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  8. Hi! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! I love your blog and I am now a new follower!

    Andie
    http://zimmermanlife.blogspot.com

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  9. @shortleglucy--Ugh...I was seriously holding out hope that it would get better :)

    @cooper788--I never thought of that one ;)

    @crystal--So glad you can understand. I can't imagine having 2 more in the house. 4 boys!!

    @mom and dad cheney--Not something I'll probably ever get a chance to find out I'm afraid ;)

    @Nicole--You should have the girls potty train Roo...then maybe he'll sit down!!

    @kitten--glad I could make you laugh ;)

    @annette--just you wait :):)

    @mamahen and @andie--thanks for stopping in!!

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  10. I don't have quite the same clean up issues :) but my daughter is EXACTLY the same in the middle of the night. My husband is less than pleased about the incoherent crying and only wanting mama. We're also about to start potty training our son... hmm... I might be scared now :)

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  11. With E, we have the incoherency in the middle of the night, as well as immediately post-nap (when we get a nap, that is). N doesn't have any of these sleepy-wakey transition issues.

    That said, usually E desperately wants Dad, not Mom. That's both good and bad. :)

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  12. I have 1 boy and I hate cleaning his bathroom. I'll just leave it at that.

    And my daughter isn't always the neatest either.

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  13. i love this! and i'm not gonna lie... the thought of parenting a boy (or boys) sometimes scares me a little. and it's for these exact reasons.

    also, just for the record. i have about a bajillion of your posts starred in my reader to comment on... and i'm just being realistic here... not gonna happen. i really just need to go un-star and start fresh. but know that i read ever single post you write even if i don't always click over to comment!!! LOVE!

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