One of the major life experiences that occurs in every parent's life, which binds you as the parent to your child occurs at "Potty Time" (written about extensively by experts in the field, who offer parents a multitude of suggestions and secrets in their books). That is the time where bonding really occurs. Make Potty Time a good experience and my guess is you've sealed the relationship pretty well. Now, I have just a bit of an aversion to "Potty". But no matter who you are, CEO, M.D., Clerk, Domestic Engineer or Fashion Model, we all deal with "Potty". Our parents dealt with it, their parents did and every single generation after us will deal with it. Potty is so serious a matter, there is actually the Real Diaper Association researching the subject. They report, "27.4 billion disposable diapers are consumed every year in the U.S."
Where there is Pooh, there is Pee. Kinda like Yogi Bear and Boo Boo, or Sonny and Cher or Batman and Robbin It is impossible to separate the two. It can't be done. You cannot have a discussion about Number 2 without Number 1. They go hand-in-hand, so to speak (Yuck).
The other night, my four year old had an accident (You'd think she was running around in her room and collided head on with another moving object at 1 a.m. But, that didn't happen and we had to deal with an accident). So I get up, can't find my glasses and take my little one by the hand, mindful of not wanting to have any experience related to Pooh be traumatic and have her end up in therapy some day, dealing with her Pooh and Papa. So, I take her by the hand, and assure her, "Oh Honey, That's okay, Babe, accidents happen". I get her cleaned up, and back into bed after removing the fancy bed cover, fearful another accident will occur, but I'm tired, she's dry, happy and enjoys the snuggles before she is back to sleep. Like any good parent, I can handle the situation without glasses, and in a semi-lighted environment, with the skill and precision of a Navy Seal assembling a weapon on the shores of a foreign beach in nearly pitch black conditions, so quiet as not to wake my other daughter.
This whole experience, reminds me of those times, I actually long for. Can you believe it? I long for those times of changing diapers. Am I nuts, or what? But, truth be told, I do. Then I think of the song I made up for my first daughter that served her and my second well. When I used to sing it, no matter how bad the accident, the song brought a smile to both our faces and bonding was reinforced:
I got pooh, just for you! Papa, I got pooh for you. I got pooh, just for you! Papa, I got pooh for you!!
Neat times.
So before she gets up after sunrise, I already have the comforter involved in the accident washing; and I have cup of coffee in hand ready to take on the day. After the wash is done, I'm struggling to take the thoroughly wet comforter out of the wash (and just at this moment it occurs to me, should that have been dry cleaned?) and my little one walks up to me standing at the washing machine. She takes one look at the all consumed and dripping wet comforter and says, "Wow, Papa, that's a lot of pee!!" I bust up laughing, and say, "Babe, I don't think this is all because of you. I don't think I can even have an accident like this!"
She giggles, not really understanding what I mean, but more so at may laughter. I pull over a chair, she climbs up and together we finish struggling with the dripping wet comforter to get it to its intended destination, the dryer. With my gentle instruction, she turns a nob and pushes a button. She's amazed at her near mastery of turning on the dryer; I pick her up, snuggle and we're on to the next morning's task...breakfast (after our morning's prayer of course).
