3 Years:
“Why did you pee in your pants again?”
“Because of my kidneys!”
“Why did you pee in your pants again?”
“Because of my kidneys!”
One of the biggest
frustrations we had with potty-training came from the gulf between what my
daughter could understand and what my
daughter could do. Way before she was
actually able to sit down on a toilet and use it correctly, she would talk
about the fine details of how the human body produces and eliminates waste. It
was funny and cute on one hand… and maddeningly frustrating on the other.
For several months, between her third birthday and three-and-a-half, every time I demanded an explanation for an avoidable potty accident, she would desperately plead, “Because of my kidneys!” or “Because of my bladder!” or “Because of my colon!”
I couldn't get angry at her, because every time I started to, I would be interrupted with the look of confusion and innocence in her sparkly brown. I could tell, just looking at her wide-eyed, startled expression, as she struggled to peel wet panties off her bottom, that she was just as confused as I was. She didn’t pee in her pants. It was something that her kidneys and bladder did without asking her, and it was something she just couldn’t quite grasp or control. There was also no way to argue her logic. Why would I punish her for something her body did on its own?
Even after she was potty-trained, the occasional accident would arise and get blamed on the internal organs that filter out waste and then expelled it. As frustrating as it was, it was an excuse I was almost always willing to accept. Years down the road, I can’t say that I have any regrets about more or less accepting this explanation, until she was able to sort out how to use the potty the right way.
For several months, between her third birthday and three-and-a-half, every time I demanded an explanation for an avoidable potty accident, she would desperately plead, “Because of my kidneys!” or “Because of my bladder!” or “Because of my colon!”
I couldn't get angry at her, because every time I started to, I would be interrupted with the look of confusion and innocence in her sparkly brown. I could tell, just looking at her wide-eyed, startled expression, as she struggled to peel wet panties off her bottom, that she was just as confused as I was. She didn’t pee in her pants. It was something that her kidneys and bladder did without asking her, and it was something she just couldn’t quite grasp or control. There was also no way to argue her logic. Why would I punish her for something her body did on its own?
Even after she was potty-trained, the occasional accident would arise and get blamed on the internal organs that filter out waste and then expelled it. As frustrating as it was, it was an excuse I was almost always willing to accept. Years down the road, I can’t say that I have any regrets about more or less accepting this explanation, until she was able to sort out how to use the potty the right way.
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