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.