confront

Potty training is no joke. I know this because I’m on my third go ‘round and I have found nothing, nothing to laugh about. There is no hilarity in mid-night bed wets, nor in mid-day crap pants. It is a dire situation when you publicly express that you entertained the idea of outsourcing one of your parental responsibilities only to be met with laughter online. Every time they don’t do what you have talked about them endlessly to do you are confronted with failure. And it isn’t them that has failed, it is you. When they are adults and you’ve done all you can within your realm of legal responsibility in accordance with their age and they STILL make stupid decisions then you can wash your hands. But a 2, 3, 4 year old is really still incapable of having fully developed thought, reasoning, decision making. And every time they poop on the floor or pee on the Lego that reality is thrown in your face. I historically don’t like confrontation. I habitually run from it, the notion of confronting challenges gives me emotional hives. But here I stand, daily, daily confronted with the reality that the outcome of parenting is pretty much out of our control. I mean, we can do our best and lay down the rules and enforce them, but we are still people of free will and if my kid decides that farting at the dinner table is a good idea no matter how many times I’ve told him otherwise then I have to accept the reality that I do not have the ability to magically make their poop come out when I want it to. And that is something I never thought I’d be confronted with.