My little Christina is a character. I cannot possibly put all of her little quirks into one blog, so I am going to start with her endless need to go to the bathroom at the most inopportune times.
Christina always seems to have to go the the bathroom just after we left a place with a "safe," clean bathroom. Yesterday we left to go to the bank. Just as we were leaving the neighborhood I hear a desperate plea coming from the back seat, "I have to go potty really bad!" You've gotta be kidding me.
I stopped the car and looked in the rear view mirror. Trying to speak calmly, I asked her, "Why didn't you go to the bathroom when we were home about 3 minutes ago? I have to go to the bank and it closes in 15 minutes."
With the most desperate face she could muster, she pleads, "Mommy--I can't make it! I have to go really bad right now." That time I rolled my eyes, turned around, and headed back to the house.
Then, this morning came around. Elena woke everyone up really early to let us all know that she had a field trip today and that she was already dressed. Since we all were up so early, we all had plenty of time to relax, eat, and go to the bathroom. We loaded up in the car and the girls and I took off to go to school.
On the way to school we pick up a little boy. Right after I picked him up and we were on the way to school, I hear that same desperate plea coming from the back, "Mommy--I have to go potty!" Mind you, we had all of the time in world to go to the bathroom that morning.
"Hold it." I showed no signs of compassion. I think this was the 4th time this week that Christina had to go to the bathroom as soon as we got in the car.
She wiggled, "But I can't make it! I have to go SO SO bad!" I could see her wiggling in the back seat.
This time Elena chimed in, "Christina! Why didn't you go at home? You were doing nothing for like a whole 10 minutes!"
"But I didn't have to go then. I have to go really bad now."
I glanced at the clock. We are like a whole 4 minutes from the girls school. If I stopped somewhere else, it would take longer than that for us to figure out where the bathroom was. "I'm not stopping."
Christina leaned forward, "But MOMMY. I HAVE to go. I'm NOT going to make it. PLEASE stop." I looked around. I don't think anyone would appreciate her peeing in a bush on Highlands Ranch Parkway.
"I'm not stopping."
The biggest groan escaped her little body. As I approached the school I swear I could see the water lines rising past her eye balls. Then, the car stopped. Traffic was back up at the school.
Her level of desperation rose, "I have to go!" She took off her seat belt and squeezed close to the door as we inched towards the school. Finally, the car approached a sidewalk. We were still about 20 cars back from the drop off spot in front of the school, inching slowly. She looked at me, "Mommy--I want to get out and walk to school."
Before the word OK escaped my lips, she had thrown open the door and took off running as fast as she could towards the door. I have never seen a little girl run that fast in my life. In a full sprint, she skillfully swerved past the slower kids and dashed into the school.
Elena started laughing, "She was running pretty fast. I hope she made it!"
Thankfully, she did.
I carry around a little potty seat in the van for exactly this reason. That way whenever someone has to go RIGHT NOW they can just get out of the seat, squat on the floor, and go, and I dump it out wherever convenient. Granted, it works great when they are tiny during training and maybe not so much when they are older, but could help in a pinch. Maybe a few times having to balance over a tiny potty in a moving car would convince her she needs to go before you leave the house!
ReplyDeleteI like your potty seat idea. I find myself giggling just thinking of Terran balancing over the potty seat! The things we experience as parents. :)
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