The Battle of the Bathroom

Last night we went to the baseball game, but more about that later...

After Dalton had continually woken up screaming all night long I had finally put him to sleep in my bed.  So when Darby woke up and wanted me to read her Olivia, I told her I couldn't do it right then without waking Dalton.  That was the start of our problems. 

Appeasing her with letting her play with her Kindle in her room worked for a while, but then she had to go potty.  Dalton was restless and laying down against me, so I was afraid if I moved I would wake him.  So I told her to go by herself. Yeah. That didn't work so well.

So, the screaming and crying started.  I had to get her away from Dalton quickly, so I whisked her to her bathroom, but for some reason I decided it was time to take a stand on the going to the potty by herself issue.  Apparently my brain was still asleep.

Now she is perfectly capable of doing it all herself, and does it all the time at school, but when she's home she insists she can't.  The first battle was the Battle of Getting on the Potty.  There is a stool there, the toilet is child sized, and there is a potty seat on it.  She can totally get on it, but she dug in her heels, all the while dancing around, about to wet her pants. I held my ground though, and after 10 minutes of fighting she kicked me out of the room and got on the toilet.  There was minor pushback on the wiping, but we got that done too.  By this time she had woken Dalton up and he had joined the adventure.

Next came the Battle of the Hand Washing.  She insisted she couldn't reach the faucets - she can.  She insisted the cabinet handles "tickled" - they don't.  Then she insisted she couldn't reach the soap - she can.  That took another while, and Mommy got sent out of the room again. 

After the hands were washed and dried, I insisted she hang the towel back up - it was a casualty of the Getting on the Potty Battle. Another tantrum ensued.  Many minutes later I got kicked out a third time and she picked it up.

So 40 minutes later, success was finally mine.  I know Tim is thinking - why do you do these things to yourself - but the next time she had to go, she did it all by herself and the only help she asked for was a poop wipe - and of course a poop viewing.  That's always essential.