Potty Training by Brothers
I’m not going to lie. One of the hardest parts of being a parent are Saturday mornings. My little elves don’t know Mondays from Saturdays, so 6:30 comes early no matter what day of the week it is. Lately though, we’ve found a nice solution. Chris hooked Bean’s lamp up to a flip switch so that he can turn it on for himself when he gets up. He normally wakes up at 6:30, turns his light on, goes potty, and then heads back to his room to play. He is a good child. A good, good child.
Gracie gets up at 7:00 on the dot, fake crying in her crib. You can tell she’s fake crying because she will stop every minute or so to listen for someone coming to get her, and then she busts out laughing when you pop into her room. It’s pretty funny.
Chris and I have worked out the perfect Saturday morning routine. When Gracie gets up, I go get her, change her, and then deposit her in Bean’s room. The two of them entertain themselves for a long time these days. We put the baby gate up on the stairs, and the kids run around upstairs playing while Chris and I lay there, pretending like we’re getting to sleep in. The kids pop in to see us about every 10 minutes, and we keep our ears and one eye open for, you know, knives and things. But for the most part, it’s pretty relaxing and a nice change from the weekday grind.
This past weekend, Chris and I were laying in bed, listening to the kids playing out in the hallway. I heard the bathroom door open, which is never a good sign, but I decided to ignore it because I was 85% sure I’d put the bleach away. And it was Saturday. Then, very loudly and clearly, we hear Bean say, “Okay, Gracie, do you need to go pee pee or poopy?”
Chris kicked me. “Get up!” he groaned.
So, I kicked him back. “You get up!”
But we both continued to lay there.
Then we hear Bean again. “You have to go poopy?”
Now, I kicked Chris. “Go get them!” I giggled.
“No! It’s your turn!”
But we still continued to lay there. I mean, it was SATURDAY.
Finally, we heard Bean say, “Okay, Gracie, sit right here on the potty…”
“I’M UP!” Chris and I shouted together, throwing back the covers and racing down the hallway, shouting, “NO! NO, GRACIE! NO!”
Ahhh… Saturdays. They aren’t what they used to be, but they’re still kind of fun!
12 Comments
Candice
Why NOT let Bean help potty train???? I do not understand at all why you interrupted that.
And isn’t it funny how sleeping in now involves lying in bed wide awake and saying, “This is good enough. At least I’m not vertical.” lol
Erin R.
So, did Gracie go potty?? 😉
mae
Your Saturday mornings sounds like ours…my 3 year old wakes up around 7-730 (he rarely sleeps in – my husband and I love to sleep in…I think he may have been switched at birth!) and just heads straight into our room with a toy car or 2, sits in the middle of the bed and asks to watch tv. We happily oblige since we can get at least 30 minutes of extra “sleep” – well my husband sleeps and I’m half awake making sure Parker stays put. But my 19 month old wakes up between 8-8:30 (she likes to sleep in) and that’s when everyone finally rolls out of bed. Or occasionally, my husband and I will trade: he sleeps in on Saturday while I take care of the kids and I get to sleep in the following day. Did Gracie go potty? Avery has shown interest in the potty b/c she sees Parker going so we usually have her sit on the potty before bath, but she’s never gone. Probably waits til she’s in the bath! lol
allie
i’m confused-why did you stop the interest/use of the potty?
Rebecca @ The Reluctant Housewife
hahahaha! So, Brad recently confessed that he counts to 37 slowly when he hears Zoe wake up, waiting to see if I’m going to get her first.
I count to 100.
Casey @ The Baker Bee
Hilarious! Bean potty training Grace is a great idea… but I totally get that you wouldn’t want her sitting over a small body of water without your supervision!
Christy
I thought this story was going to end with a sea of poop. I hope it didn’t!
Is that why my parents are in bed by 10 pm and up by 5 am or 6 am even though one of them is retired? I could never understand that.
Nikki
My lovely husband “sleeps in” until 6 o’clock on the weekends. At first I hated it because I felt like I needed to be productive too. At least he has already agreed to have Saturday morning duty when our little one arrives in a few weeks, but we will see if that changes once we are both sleep deprived!
Leah
Too funny. We’ll be there this time next year but right now my 10 week old likes to wake up his sister by going from sound asleep to screaming with no notice. Boo! But I get the potty thing. No need for her to fall in or fall off and then never want to potty again 🙂 That or you realize that once potty trained she’ll want to use every potty in the greater Orlando area :-).
kat
lo F l Katie. I wish you had video taped this happening.
Lindsay
Hilarious!!!!
Ariane
I agree with the other commenters about not stopping Bean from showing Gracie how to use the potty. My husband was potty-trained by his older brother. He was potty-trained by 14 months because his older brother took him into the bathroom with him every time he went. Gracie learning from Bean is a great thing (and Bean wanting to teach her)!