Nudity has become commonplace in the Pugh household the past two weeks. After changing 1,000 too many diapers I decided it was time to enter the world of potty training...and what a world it is! Chad and I decided that the best way to train Jack was to just let the kid run free and naked and then take it from there (hence the naked bum in the picture...Note to future guests, don't worry we've cleaned the chairs!) So the first few days went great. Jack was totally on-board and his rewards of fruit snacks and calls to his favorite characters (Thomas the Tank Engine and Lightening McQueen) seemed to do the trick. I thought to myself, this potty training isn't as bad as I thought it would be. After 3 days I thought it was a done deal and figured we were done. Big Mistake #1 Never get cocky. Before going to the grocery store this week I tried to get Jack to take care of business before we left but he said he didn't need to go. Big Mistake #2 don't leave the house if you know they need to go...even if they say they don't. So of course Jack had to go the minute we got there. After 10 minutes of hanging out in the grocery store bathroom (so gross) Jack decided he didn't really need to go so we went back to shopping. Big Mistake #3: If a child says they need to go potty...and try for 10 minutes then say they don't need to go...don't believe them! Three aisles later Jack starts dancing around so I ask him if he needed to go potty, he said no...with a little too much intensity. I wanted to finish shopping and the idea of hanging out in the grocery bathroom again trying to prop Jack up on the big toilet with one hand while keeping Marian from touching anything with the other sounded terrible so I believed him. Big Mistake #4: When a child starts doing the potty dance and says they don't need to go...don't believe them. One aisle later Jack yells out, "Mom I 'm going potty" In sheer desparation I grabbed him and ran for the bathroom then realized I'd forgotten Marian in the cart and dashed back to grab her when it happend, right next to the cake mixes and spices of aisle 6. "Clean up aisle 6" So, we left our half filled grocery cart, told the ladies at the customer service desk what happened (although they new what had happened before I even opened my mouth) and went straight to the car. While making our way through the parking lot, Jack, who could sense that something pretty bad had happend and figured that it would be in his best interest to cheer me up said, "don't worry mommy, it's okay, those girls will clean it up." On the drive home I tried very hard to stay positive for Jack's sake. I tried to stay positive while I peeled off his very wet pants and underwear. I tried to stay positive while I started the 10th potty training accident induced load of laundry in 3 days. And I tried to stay positive while I gave him his second "potty-accident bath" that day. I'm not sure I did the positive thing very well because Jack looked me in the eye and said, "Mommy, are you happy at me?" Now how can you be mad after a sweet question like that? It reminded me of President Monson's quote from general conference where he said something along the lines of, "never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person needing to be loved." I told Jack that even though I was unhappy that he'd wet his pants ...again, I was happy with him because he was trying and I was proud of him and knew he could do it. After that Jack gave me the biggest hug he has ever given me. I'm happy to report that we've had three accident free days since the grocery store incident! Way to go Jack!
