Lost in Laundry

Friday, March 23, 2007

My three year old has an annoying habit of demanding to go to the bathroom at the most inopportune times. The frustrating thing is that we'll be somewhere in public (the mall, a restaurant, etc.), and I'll take all three kids plus myself into the restroom. (Quite a challenge maneuvering all of us being the slight germophobe that I am, but that's another subject entirely.) I go...Ryan goes...Lauryn gets a diaper change, and Dylan REFUSES to even try. No amount of coercing can convince him. "Mom! I said I DON'T need to go!" So we leave the restroom, starting happily on our way to eat or shop or whatever. Literally two minutes later Dylan wants to be taken to the restroom. WHAT?!?

Same thing applies when we are in the car for long road trips. We'll stop and take and bathroom break and Dylan claims he doesn't need to go and won't even try, then five miles down the road we're pulling over again. And I can't just make him wait, because I've tried that with disastrous results. I decided today that maybe this is his small way of controlling his universe. I can tell him what to wear, what to eat, where to sit, and when to sleep, but I can't force that liquid out of his bladder until he is darn good and ready. It's his one small act of power.

To add to the public restroom drama, my four year old is already begging to be allowed to go into the men's bathroom. Alone. "But mom! I'm a boy! I don't wanna go in the girls bathroom!" Sorry kid. That's the way it's gonna be for several more years. No way I'm sending my baby into the bathroom by himself. In addition to fearing that there could be a predatory weirdo in there, I also just know that he would be running his hands along every germ infested, nasty surface imaginable then doing an inadequate job of washing his hands.

permalink | posted by Starr at 8:50 PM

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