Am I a bad mom?

Or just a lazy mom?  I admitted to my husband this morning that I don't generally like other peoples kids. Well at least strangers kids.  We went to PBS kids in the park this morning and I'll be honest, I really dislike these types of events.  They stress me out and I usually end up cranky and often hostile.  Parents shoving their kids in front of yours to get a picture with a stupid Chik Fil A cow? Really? Hovering around the Cookie Monster tent trying to sneak in a picture with their kid when I've been holding our place in line for 45 minutes in the sun.  I understand we all want the best for our kids, but when I get around that many helicopter parents trying to make sure their child gets their "fair share" it makes me crazy.  My daughter is 22 months old and you know what? I tell her that life isn't fair, we don't always get what we want and often someone else will get what we think belongs to us.   Not saying that my kiddo doesn't get tons of opportunities and fun things, she's an only child for pete sake, there really isn't any competition at home unless you count the family dog.

If I had my way I would never go to these events, but I, like many other parents worry that she may someday during a long expensive therapy session claim that I never exposed her to normal childhood  experiences.  I'm debating whether to put my little tornado in dance class or tumbling, she would have fun and get to socialize. But darn it that means I have to put on my interested face,  ask questions of other parents, try to remember their names the next time I see them.  It's all so much work.  Yup I'm a lazy mom, I feed my kid processed foods, I use Elmo like a sedative when I need a break, and I only very rarely do fun "kid" things with my toddler.  So sue me :P

It's my potty and I'll cry if I want to!

So on a whim my hubby and I decided to take the huge step of buying a potty for my 19 month old.  I figured no hurry, at least it will be in the house, she can get used to the idea of it being there.  Buying it was a lesson in how not to scar your child for life. We were in Target in the potty aisle and looking at our options.  Hubby vetoed anything that made sounds, or had lights. I was looking for something that was easy to clean. So during our grand debate our little one starts pulling potty's off the lower shelf and starts trying them out. I of course find this hysterical and am laughing out loud, while my husband waits patiently for me to get a hold of myself.  My husband likes to say he was raised Catholic, you don't talk about the bathroom,  you don't mention the bathroom, you certainly don't read in the bathroom and you get in and get out in the quickest time possible.  Where in my house we all talked about the bathroom and our personal time in there over the dinner table.  I still use the bathroom as my personal meditation chamber.  But enough about my issues.

So we finally pick out a simple utilitarian potty that hubby kindly pointed out looked like a chemical toilet on a boat.  It was kinda fancy I thought, you could take the top seat off and put it on your regular toilet and the bottom becomes a two piece step stool. Bonus!

So after a few weeks of my daughter dragging her new potty back and forth from her room to our bedroom, using it as a seat to watch Elmo from and a step stool to reach my bed, I thought let's see what happens if we offer it up?  So yesterday I was about to give her a bath and asked her if she wanted to use the potty. She said "yeah" because she has never said yes. And I sit her down and low and behold! Eureka! She goes, no muss, no fuss, no crying just "hey look what I did"!  I assumed it was a fluke but today she did it again! 

Now here is where the inevitable lesson comes in.  So after congratulating her on a job well done, I tried to get her OFF the potty. No dice, wasn't having it.  So fine I figured I'll go into her room grab a diaper and come back and try again.  In that short amount of time, she had gotten off the potty, squatted on the bath mat and pooped.  Seriously I haven't cleaned poop off the floor since my dog was a puppy.   So lesson learned get diaper before you start the process and for heaven sake never leave them unattended when they are diaperless!