Potty-training Katy

A few weeks ago, Katy refused to put another diaper on in the morning.  "Underwear, potty, " she insisted.  "No diapers."  Okay.  I wasn't quite ready for that, but whatever.

We got her little pink potty out, set it up in the family, and watched Curious George like normal.  She was sitting on the potty, so of course when she peed in it, we made a huge deal out of it and gave her marshmallows.  That first day, we tried to stay on hard floors or outside most of the time.  Katy had several accidents, but also several successes.

Days 2 and 3, I was exhausted.  Katy couldn't pull her pants down and didn't quite know when she would have to go, so it was constant watching her and helping her to the potty.  By day 4...I was ready to give up.  At noon I complained to Curtis about how I was tired of it and maybe I would just go back to diapers (it didn't help that at that time we only had 3 pairs of underwear, so I was constantly doing laundry!).  But....less than an hour later, she pooped in the potty all by herself with no prompting...and we made a successful trip to York.  That gave me the motivation to keep trying.

By the next week, she was telling me when she had to go and had maybe 3 accidents the whole week.  Katy loved her new Cars, Nemo, and Toy Story underwear (I searched all over the internet to find girl underwear with Lightning McQueen!).

I always said that Katy would potty train when she decided she wanted to, and she did.  Sooo much quicker than Lane - I remember washing underwear out for months with him!  She already stays dry during naps and, if she wakes up once at night to pee, she'll stay dry all night too.  (At 4, Lane still doesn't stay dry. Someday he'll be embarrassed about that!).

However, Katy being Katy, she has had to make it difficult for me at times...she decided that she can pee in the grass like Lane.  Even if I haul her into the house quickly, she screams and cries and ends up peeing on her bedroom floor.  So after a huge tantrum out in the field, I let her try it, and of course she peed all over everything.  I thought that might be the end of it.

Today at Playdate at the Park, she decided once again that she can pee in the grass.  I told her she can figure it out.  She took off her shorts and underwear...and spread her legs far enough apart that her shoes wouldn't get wet....and peed.  Nothing I could say would stop her!  After she was done, I told her, "Girls don't pee in the grass.  Only boys can."  She looked at me and stated, "No, I peed on the tree."  Well....ok....it's tough to argue with Katy!

Hopefully this is only a phrase!

But I am very thankful that at only 2 years and (less than!) 3 months, Katy potty-trained herself.  Sometimes stubbornness isn't all that bad!

Review of "Inescapable"

Lizzie Engel grew up in the secluded town of Kingdom, Kansas.  She has spent the past 5 years running from her past - and everyone in it.  Lizzie decides to leave Kansas City when she realizes that she is being followed; however, she has no place to go but Kingdom!  Once there, she remembers the good things about growing up in the small Mennonite town.  But as she comes face to face with her past - will she have to leave  home once again?

I chose to read Inescapable because of the Mennonite connection - and even though the Mennonite faith they portrayed in the book is very different from the Mennonite faith I grew up with - it was still interesting to read of Lizzie's struggles.  It took me a little while to get into this book.  I'm not a huge fan of mystery novels, perhaps because I don't like not knowing what's going on!  Once I got about halfway through, I had to finish it that night because I was so invested in the characters!

I do recommend this book to anyone who typically enjoys contempory fiction (especially if you are usually into romance) because although it is technically a mystery novel, it is still a pretty light read.

I received a copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Review of "Almost Amish"

If you were given the chance to live Plain for a summer, would you do it?  Julie Charlton was approached by her sister-in-law, Susan, to do just that.  The women (along with their teenage kids) were invited to film a reality TV series on the challenges of living as the Amish do.  Julie jumped at the chance to slow down (after all, isn't Amish life "simple"?), while Susan thought it was the prefect chance to further her career (and show the world how "perfect" she can be).  Will their teenagers adapt to life without modern conveniences?  Will the women find their break from everyday life?

I was pleasantly surprised by "Almost Amish" by Kathryn Cushman.  When I signed up to review this book, I was expecting just another Amish fiction book.  The way that this book approached Amish life was refreshing.  So often, us "Englishers" see Plain living as simpler and slower-paced.  However, "Almost Amish" showed that isn't always the case.

Most of us as wives and mothers can relate to Julie's feelings about the "modern" world.  Too many commitments, too many expectations, and too little time together as a family.  The things we have to do (such as cleaning, committees, baking, etc.) don't always lie within our strengths and can leave us feeling drained.  Others of us are like Susan - we have to show everyone that we are perfect and that everything is always under control.

I liked the reminder that we don't have to be like every other wife and mother out there; our house, our food, our crafts, our meetings, our committees, even our kids' activities don't have to look like everyone else's.  It's okay to say no sometimes :)

I was provided a copy of this book to review by Bethany House Publishers; however, all opinions are my own.