There's a Camel in Our House...

Well, apparently a camel snuck into our home and he isn't leaving. He drinks as much as he can but never seems to let it go (if you get my drift).

Potty Training Day One commenced yesterday and it appeared to be going well. Garrett was willing to wear big-boy underwear, sit on the potty every 20-30 minutes, etc. He even seemed quite proud of himself. But by 10:48 a.m. there was no action and no accidents.

That's when Garrett said, "Mommy, I need a diaper now." To which I replied, "Remember buddy, the diapers are going to the babies. You are a big boy and wear underwear and use the potty." No argument came. I was so proud of the both of us.

Then it happened. Accident number 1. No problem. We cleaned it up, we talked, we even found another pair of underwear to put on. This was going okay in my mind.

After nap (he woke up dry) Garrett had his snack, juice and proceeded with:

G: Mommy, whe-uh auh the diap-uhs?

J: Remember, buddy, we put the diapers away to give to the babies. You get to wear big-boy underwear now like Daddy.

G: Oh. Well. We get some mo-uh diap-uhs, Mommy. We get bigg-uh size diap-uhs for me and Daddy. We not wea-uh big-boy underwea-uh anymo-uh.

Which led to accident number two. No big deal. This is okay. This will take time. Right? Talked to a few pals, each one encouraged me to keep at it.

THREE HOURS LATER, the camel was still holding it. Accident happened. No biggie. Daddy comes home. Daddy takes over while I make dinner. Nothing happens. We eat dinner. Daddy proceeds to drown the camel with juices and milk. Nothing happens. Garrett begins to whine and almost cry out in pain as he does this most pitiful, pathetic hop/dance/waddle. He OBVIOUSLY needs to go. We get him ready for bed, put a pull-up on him and and he runs to the other room for relief.

Poor kiddo. He's not ready. He's afraid. But, aren't all kids like this, I think to myself? After Garrett goes to bed, I pull out the trusty collection of parenting books that I had sworn off about a year ago. All are rubbish. But now I'm desperate. Kenny gets on the Internet and finds some stuff on "the camel syndrome". Kenny begins to convince me that it's okay, he's just not ready.

(Might I just stop here for a minute and applaud my hubby. He's the best. Just jumps on in there with the best of them. Garrett is lucky. I am lucky. No doubt about it.)

I decided to wait it out until morning. Maybe the night will tell. The night will tell, you ask? Yes the night. We have this lovely little thermometer in Garrett's sleeping habits. If he is restless and talks/screams in his sleep or gets up a lot, we know he's under stress. And it happened. So many night wakings that I lost count. Poor kiddo. Bless his little heart. He's not ready.

So, we will wait. We will be patient with him. But boy do I feel like the worst mom in the world. Poor little guy tried to tell me. Bless MY little heart. So, I'll leave you with this happy heart picture...because that is how the boy is feeling now....he's got a very happy heart (and a diaper).

Garrett posing (we didn't tell him to do this...he's just a bit camera happy) in his newest hat (Veggie Tales) and his shirt from Jess.