Wednesday 29 August 2007

Men & Motors

Boy #1 is staying with his paternal grandmother for a few days so Boy #2 is taking advantage of the lull to make himself heard and to hone his conversational skills. Since staying with my parents on a farm a couple of weeks ago, any kind of heavy machinery elicits comment (what is it about men and motors?), and he now shouts 'Wow!' whenever we pass anything vaguely similar to farmyard equipment. (Frog in the Field - thank your lucky stars you have daughters). In urban ex-pat-ville this includes tractors, cranes, dumper trucks, rubbish trucks, and - most importantly - the rather more common-place flatbed truck. Since in this area home improvement is mandatory when you move, and flatbeds are builder's vehicle of choice whethere they are delivering a load of scaffolding or a single bolt, a simple walk to the shops turns into the toddler equivalent of a visit to Stringfellows...


August 21st, 2006

As a sign of how far we’ve come in the ‘portable family’ stakes, we went out for brunch this morning with friends. How very civilised…The only hiccup was when Boy #1 – plainly in need of the potty, hopping around like a rabbit and clutching himself in a Rod Stewart styley – refused to use either the portable potty or the loo in the disabled toilet. I had visions of vast quantities of wee engulfing the floor of the restaurant and being shunned by polite society for the rest of my life, so did what any self-respecting mother does in that situation. I sent in his father. Who of course got a result in less than 2 minutes. The phrase ‘a word from me and he does as he likes…’ keeps echoing through my head.

But... No pooh at all today. Am hoping for a result tomorrow morning like the one Husband got on Sunday but somehow I doubt it will be that easy. Spoke to a friend at the weekend who said that during her 'potty-training hell' (her words, not mine), she ended up frantically stalking her son around the house as he disappeared to furtively produce poohs – in places other than the potty, of course. Our flat isn’t that big but really don’t fancy games of hunt the pooh… unless we’re talking about the stuffed bear variety, obviously.

14 comments:

  1. oh the poo, it still haunts me. My youngest (2 on Monday) amazed me by doing a poo in the potty the other day, a complete fluke i think. I'm not rushing into potty training, it is my least fav job. And the stress of being in a public place...oh it's given me the shivers remembering!
    Pigx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Pig, thanks so much for visiting. Your note has reminded me of when, in my pre-child days, a friend announced excitedly that her 2 year-old had POTTY TRAINED HIMSELF. Of course, in my childless ignorance, this completely went over my head at the time, and it was not for many years that I recognised her child prodigy for the genius he is. (Sammie - if you're reading this then yes, I'm talking about Harvey).

    ReplyDelete
  3. I thought it would be difficult, after seeing how people wrote about it, but had no idea how difficult until reading this posting! Health visitor has advised me to wait a while until starting with Beanie. But I'm so glad that I'll be able to come here and swap tips with you, Potty Mum.

    ps - a friend of mine carried a potty round in her handbag for a while, which I thought strange. But is that in fact normal? How long does potty training last? Is it weeks, or months? And the little girl kept asking to go to the loo, about three times in half an hour. Also normal? Yikes!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well, boys can 'go' where girls can't because of course they can stand up, so I think that is a distinct advantage that girls don't have.
    When we went on holiday, everyone went to the bathroom before we go in the car, we drove a mile, Sophie needed a 'wee in the hedge'!
    It does your head in to be honest, but they have such cute faces, Thankfully!

    ReplyDelete
  5. ps. Tractors and machines are adored by little boys, my husband has a steady fan club of little boys who insist their dad's take them into the field for a ride in the combine harvester! Quad bikes and Landrovers are always a big hit with small male visitors too.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely Potty Mummy,

    I have set up a group on facebook for Recovering Roman Catholics! You should join. I am on with Ingenious Rose, my name is Bea Parry-Jones, you should join us!

    ReplyDelete
  7. The Boy (My Eldest) loves dumpers and all kinds of vehicles and at just 15 months his younger brother seems equally obsessed - how I wish Dear Charlie was the same - he's useless with cars and all things mechanical costing me a fortune at the garage much to the boys' delight a visit there is a trip to heaven!

    ReplyDelete
  8. hi to all of you, this is not a prpr reply as i'm lying in a hospital with suspected appendicitus, but how lovely to check in and see all your comments! will be back soon, i hope.

    ReplyDelete
  9. OHMYGOD... Poor you, can I bring you some grapes?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Mother at large,
    lovely to hear from you and don't worry - potty training is probably nowhere near as difficult as I make it sound, so don't despair. Obviously for the purposes of interesting reading I haven't made it sound like a walk in the park - otherwise what would be the point of writing it down? But please, feel free to check in at any time if you think I can help!

    Dear Frog,
    you know I still haven't got my heat around the 'loo-stop before you leave the house' concept, even a year after Boy #1 is out of nappies. When will I learn....?

    Dear Dulwich Mum,
    thanks for the invitation and will be checking out the group as soon as I can sit up for more than 10 minutes (damn that annoying and useless appendix). Thanks for the offer of grapes, but thought that compelling anyone other than close family to visit me in hospital was just too cruel (you didn't see my neighbours on the ward - be grateful).

    Dear Tattie Weasle,
    I guess that we will just have to console ourselves with the thought that the thousands of pounds spent bringing them up will be worth it when we have a tame mechanic in the family...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hello Potty Mummy - I've just made you my one of my guest bloggers for sept.
    http://sidmouth-town.blogspot.com/2007/09/welcome-2-new-guest-blog-spot.html

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Lady Thinker,
    thanks so much for that - will have to visit to see exactly what it means!

    Hi Frog,
    I have felt better but the the state of my stomach today just doesn't bear comparison with last Thursday and Friday running up to the operation. Thank heavens for key-hole surgery - and for finally having a reason not to do sit-ups for a while!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Once, he had found a bottle of it under the sinkand had gulped down a mouthful. This time, they were face to face,their bodies merged with his hands cupping her supple ass on bare ass flesh,pulling their crotches tight.
    sex stories taboo
    lesbian rape stories
    aunty sex stories post
    true dirty sexy stories
    adult interacial rape stories
    Once, he had found a bottle of it under the sinkand had gulped down a mouthful. This time, they were face to face,their bodies merged with his hands cupping her supple ass on bare ass flesh,pulling their crotches tight.

    ReplyDelete

Go on - you know you want to...