A Gift I Hated To Give

When I called Amity last night, I hoped that she would be able to say "no thanks" to our stack of unused size 4 Pampers. Instead, she begrudgingly accepted our gift and in turn gave us some princess Pull Ups that "Ava won't be using anytime soon".

I realize I have belabored this entire potty training journey a bit over the past few weeks. You have to be in this stage to truly appreciate the magnitude of the process - so please bear with me. While we all know that every child eventually learns to use the toilet, I do believe that much mystery remains around the timing of the transition from diaper to toilet and the process to make that happen. To the best of my recollection, both Shayla and Kiera were out of diapers and completely trained in one or two days. Kendra, on the other hand, is still hitting a few logs in the road - if you catch my drift. When this process is all over, the stained panties, multiple trips to public bathrooms, and ever present fear of an accident will all fade into a distant memory. But for now, it is a bit all consuming I must say!

Both Amity and I believed that Ava would blaze the trail for Kendra in the potty department given her age advantage. Or, at the very least, they would happily learn to pee and poop together. Instead, Kendra (with my urging) is becoming acclimated to the pot and Ava continues to enjoy the comforts of her Pampers. I'm sure that Amity would agree that it all seems a bit unfair. And, while both of us as adults know intellectually that Ava is going to jump on the potty train someday soon, right now it feels like the waiting is lasting an eternity.

I pondered finding another mom in need of some size 4's or even keeping the diapers in the closet "just in case". But, my fear of Kendra regressing and my need to downsize won out today. If all the stars align just right, maybe Ava will never dip into our gifted Pamper pack and Amity will have to pass them along to someone else. With her fiesty independence I know she'll be the one to determine that!