This image is burned in my mommy brain: My oldest daughter, at about 22 months old, standing in our living room after I have dressed her in a pair of lime green, wool kaidangku, split-crotch pants, staring down at her bare parts and then looking up at me and grinning. That began our potty training odyssey, inspired by my research into Chinese parenting culture and other "odd" family practices. My girl would go on to pee on the floor countless times, and sit with her bare bottom on precious items. But she would be trained within two (if wet) weeks.
It was one of the eye-opening experiences, inspired by my years living abroad, raising my children and researching parenting beliefs. There were so many "wow" moments, when my middle-class mom instincts clashed with what I was living, hearing, seeing and reading. But I was intrigued, and learned more than I ever dreamed. Those discoveries (to be explored in later blog posts) include:
When I noticed he didn't have any training pants or any shorts on. His bottom was bare. She said that it is a new way to potty train. I wasn't impressed.
After she left, he had to go poo poo and took off running to the bathroom, but he didn't make it. I cleaned it up and called my daughter and said it isn't working. She said put his training diaper on, then.
I decided to give him another chance since he had tried to go to the bathroom. He went to the potty everytime. At naptime and night I was afraid he would wet the bed so I put a bed pad under him. He didn't wet the bed at all.
I ended up being impressed. My daughter came back to pick up the children and said I guess I will have to start all over with the potty training. I said, 'no, he is totally trained'. She was so proud.
I would advise putting a long tee shirt on them when training that way. It is a good way to train a toddler.
I wrote this once, then it disappeared. I guess the monitors didn't like my words.
I didn't make my kids go to bed early. If they fell asleep before bedtime we would carry them to their beds. After they were about two, they didn't take a nap, either.
My daughters had lots of battles about bedtime with their children. They put their children to bed early.
After she left, the little guy needed to poo poo and ran as hard as he could to the bathroom, but he didn't make it. I called her and griped some more.
Anyway after that he started using the toilet and didn't have another accident. When my daughter came back, she said, "I guess I will have to start all over with him". I told her, "No, you don't, he is trained" and he really was. Amazing.
For the past 2 years she has attended a local (as opposed to international) kindergarten, where they serve Chinese food, Chinese style. Which means lots of weird (to me) stuff, with lots of bones in it, to be eaten with chopsticks. Or, you know, don't eat. No one is going to go make you some fish fingers or chicken nuggets instead, so you'd best get on with it, kiddo. She is by far more intrepid and adventurous with food than I ever could have imagined, and certainly more dexterous with the sticks at 5 than I managed to be by 30. (I'm very good now, ha ha.) Her skill at leaning over her plate and dribbling out bits of bone and gristle is, well, okay, it's not going to win us any invitations to dine at Buckingham Palace, but she can hold her own against any of her local peers, that's for sure.