The First "Big Talk"

Jackson has had some behaviour issues that I had tied back to the beginning of potty training. He was crabby and disobedient. I figured it was the stress of potty training. We had the potty party, and then life was bliss for a week or so.

This past week, things turned ugly for a bit. Although dry each morning, he has asked for a diaper at night. Fine. Whatever it takes for you to sleep. But Sunday night he did not ask for a diaper, so I did not get one for him.

He woke up COMPLETELY furious with me. He threw a huge fit, and I refused to put a diaper on him. The next day he wanted one again. I was not up for the battle the day before, and he asked politely, so I obliged. Tuesday night he was a beast to his best friend Mia. Wednesday AM things weren't much better, and Thursday much worse. And Thursday when I picked him up, Ms. Cathy reported that he sobbed each time he had to go potty.

Finally we had the chat, and finally he told me what was wrong. He has had aim issues sitting on the little potty; issues he does not have on the big one. She made him use the big one instead of the little one like Austin does. He thought he was being punished for getting his potties on the floor. It broke my heart that he had not told me. The stress of it all was killing him. We talked about it, got a plan worked out, and he went to Cathy's like a little happy trouper on Friday.

My parenting observations must get a little more honed in. He CAN communicate now, but just like mom, he is not good at admitting his faults, fears and anxieties. I need to work to draw them out; encourage him to talk about them, so we can solve them together. I did tell him that he can talk to me about anything.

I hope that next time I will pick up on this earlier and take action to get to the bottom of it all. Actually, I hope that next time he will feel okay to come to me before it gets out of hand again.

Simple Victories/Joys

The non-mommy side of me comes out. Today I am proud of/enjoying:

• Finally finding a phone/data wiring company for our new building after we got 90% there and had to switch. They start Monday.
• Getting to leave the office and have lunch with my friends on our Thursday lunch I rarely make.
• Having the architect send my painstaking but beloved (and to everyone else pain in the butt) cabinetry design/build-out back in my lap for bids and construction. We meet on Saturday.
• My dual monitors put in a week ago, so I can easily write my trainings, do my designs, etc. I love them, I love them, I love them!
• Drinking a beer on the patio last night while talking to mom and then aunt ann while admiring my yard.
• Feeling some professional and satisfaction growth for the first time in a long long time (I hope this does not go away when our new building design, construction and move are complete).

Calling Mr. Yuck

UPDATE: Thanks to KTP for telling me they also had Mr. Yuck. I googled him, and rediscovered Mr. Yuk. I may be obsessive, but I ordered stickers and posters for all of my teacher relatives, and for Jackson's door. There is a YouTube of his commercial.
____________________

It started like this:

"Mommy, I ate a rock." Picture child with blue and green crystals in
his teeth and around the mouth.

"What rock? Show me." Picture mother's heart beginning to race.

He walks her to the kitchen, over by the pantry where the snack cuppard is, and points to the snack pack appearing open thing of D-Con Mice Poison. "There."

Mom panicks. Lifts child over sick, turns on water, and starts saying, "Spit it out, spit it out, spit it out." over and over and over again. Grabs the package and the docs business card that sits in the window sill of said kitchen where all things that must not be lost go.

WARNING TO ALL CAREGIVERS OF CHILDREN: DCON rat/mice bait self contained packs which seem like a good idea because the chemicals are not out in the open and there is no trap to snap little fingers off looks JUST LIKE an oversized package of fruit snacks or a small version of teddy grahams.

The summary of this is that he ate just a couple. The active ingredient is a blood thinner. Poison control says it would take more than a 1 oz. pack to hurt a 34 lb child. Even a non-explorer as Jackson is can pull the packet out of the deep hole between the pantry wall and the outer house wall if it looks like a fruit snack. The tele-nurse will lecture you about active children and poisons in the house. About the need to lecture your child about putting strange things in his mouth.

Question: When I was growing up in Indiana, we had Mr. Yuck stickers everywhere. All child related groups (docs, school, day car, sports teams) gave them out. They were round bright orange or neon green, with a "happy face" type guy making a yucky face. Parents stuck them on anything potentially poisonous. Did you have Mr. Yuck, or was it just an Indiana thing?

I want him back.

Random Thoughts

• My friends Kim and Lisa participated in the bloggers May Book Binge. I used to be an avid reader, and am in a book club, but I cannot seem to finish a book. I have about 8 sitting next to my bed. Really. I finally finished about a month ago a book Lisa loaned me over year ago when we were in NYC. My reading these days is more the speed of Thomas and the Big Big Bridge - tonight's feature; Bernstein Bear's Big Road Race "putt putt putt said Little Red" & The Truth book (as Jackson calls it). We also frequently do Scooby Doo and the Creep Chef, and he has discovered one of my all time favs, The Little Engine That Could.
• Benefit #234 of potty trained kids: NO MORE SWIM DIAPERS!!
• Disadvantage of potty trained boys: Lack of aim, no matter how far you push it down.
• Have I mentioned how AWESOME my yard looks right now and how happy I am I worked so hard?!
• Count down: 5 days to Jordan's b-day; 9 days to Chicago to see Lisa (I mean, to work); 11 days until Dad retires - for good; 12 days until my b-day; 18 days until Grandma and Grandpa B close on the new house; 22 days until they move; 24 days until we had there; 25 days until Jax gets to see his cousins; 27 days until Uncle Pat is ordained a deacon; 28 days until Jax b-day.
• Go Cubs!!!