This One's About Poop, Too.

Madeleine was up bright and early as usual this morning, trotting into my bedroom at 6:15 to once again peek out the window.  Alas, the snow has all melted, but never fear, Madeleine found something else to excitedly point out to me.  "Mommy?  Why does your window have these PIMPLES and SCRATCHES on it?  Look, Mom!  Look!  It's PIMPLES and SCRATCHES!!"

My scratched and pimply window.

And in this morning's big news, Julia was able to swim the length of the pool today - out AND back - in her swim lesson.  Such progress!  In fact, her instructor told me it's time to bump her up, out of the preschool level and into the youth level, whose classes will meet in the afternoon.  Julia wasn't sure how to take this news, however, asking me a bit cautiously, "But Mama?  Will I still get to go to kindergarten if I have swim lessons in the AFTERNOON?"

Nope.  We're hauling out of kindergarten so you can devote ALL of your time to swim lessons.  The next Michael Phelps is up and coming!

And speaking of kindergarten, Julia faced a big conundrum as we walked to school this afternoon: to hold her impending poop all afternoon at school and throughout her play-date after school, or to be brave and try pooping at school.  As we walked along, she made her case for holding it all day: "Well, Mama, the thing is, I really only feel COMFORTABLE pooping at home.  I don't like to go poop at school, because, like, it's just EMBARRASSING.  Like, if the kids see a stop sign on the bathroom door for a long time, then sometimes they KNOCK to see if anyone is in there, and I feel too shy to say that someone's in there."

All I can say to this is LIKE FATHER LIKE DAUGHTER.

Julia even admitted her nervousness to merely ask to use the bathroom when she's out of the house.  "Mama, so, one time when we are the Y, I had to go pee, but I was afraid to tell the baby-sitters I needed to go.  BUT - luckfully, my sweet little sister said she needed to go potty, so when the baby-sitter asked who else needed to go, I just RAISED MY HAND."

Julia is not the only child who felt forced to hold her poop out of fear today.  Madeleine was playing in the living room while I vacuumed the kitchen, and though she is still scared to the bapboom, she tends to manage okay so long as the bapboom is not directly in the room with her.  However, she suddenly stood up and started shouting something to me from the living room.  Turning off the vacuum to better hear her, I asked her to repeat what she had said.  "MOMMY!  Can you STOP vacuuming so I can STOP being SCARED?" she hollered to me.  I had no idea that she was in desperate need of pooping, so I told her I'd be done soon, and resumed my activity.  As soon as I finished up the kitchen and turned the vacuum off for good, Madeleine came sprinting towards the bathroom, exclaiming, "Finally, NOW I can go poop!  I have to poop SO BAD!" 

Apparently walking anywhere near the kitchen in order to get to the bathroom was just way too terrifying a task for her to attempt.  LUCKFULLY, she was able to hold her poop until the bapbooming was done.

And, of course, since Madeleine still insists on having her clothes off in order to poop, she asked me frantically, as she scrambled onto the pot, "Mom?  Can you take off my EVERYTHING?"

I look with anticipation to a future in which the logistics of pooping play a MUCH smaller part in my day-to-day life...but until then...I suppose I'll just have to deal with Julia holding it all day and Madeleine taking off her everything.