The Jensen Family: July 2009

Uh oh, Daddy!

Among the many things we have learned from being parents, toilet training and its attendant adventures have required a healthy sense of humor. Emily's dad is particularly bad at remembering when she needs to make a trip to the little girls room.

Annie was only days old when I was given the assignment to take Emily to her Easter egg hunt at the play group at church. Amy told met to make sure I took her to the potty as soon as we arrived at church. Being the only male in attendance, and rather inexperienced with large-scale Easter egg hunts, I got lost in the action and neglected that crucial stop before the fun began. Above you will notice a face worth a thousand words - this photo was captured mid stream, if you will. Emily was so excited to find her allotment of Easter eggs (while I tried to follow orders and get good pictures) that she did not notice the eminent urine flow until it was too late. I whisked her off to the car, stripped her clothes off, and drove her home wrapped up in a blanket. Fortunately, she had collected all of her eggs before our hasty departure. Emily kept asking, "we go back to playgroup?" You can imagine my chagrin when I had to explain our rapid departure to all the play group ladies the next Sunday....

Fast forward to this week:

In my line of work I help lots of families who have kids who are less than completely toilet trained. One little boy had been urinating in strange places this week because he "didn't think he could make it to the potty." My clinic supervisor and I laughed at how difficult this can be for boys compared to girls. "Emily hasn't had an accident in months" I said. I should never have said that.

Yesterday we were visiting Dick's Sporting Goods, and, once again, I was instructed to take Emily to the WC. We had recently been out to eat where Emily drank copious amounts of water, although she had gone to the potty prior to leaving the restaurant. She insisted that I go to the bathroom but flatly refused to go herself. "I just went" she told me. I though this was somewhat concerning, but since she has been very good about notifying us of her need to go lately, I figured she was trustworthy. She then proceeded to play with nearly everything in the store. Just prior to our departure, she found the putting green where they demo golf clubs. She had a great time knocking golf balls around with all of their expensive putters. Just as I was reaching down to pick Emily up so we could leave, I noticed the above expression form on her face while the urine began to run down her legs. She simply said, "uh oh, Daddy!"

How is a parent to know what to do in this situation? Do you pick the girl up and make a beeline for the restroom (in the opposite corner of the store), hoping that you avoid being soaked yourself? Do you wait until the dripping has ceased, notify a store employee, or call for backup? I could not believe how much liquid came out of one small child on that golf green! I chose the former, picked her up promptly, and hastily headed to the bathroom. Along the way, Emily said to me (in a rather loud voice), "Daddy, I go potty in the golf game!" (I'm thinking, "why, yes you did!"). Luckily, Amy was in the store and she supplied a baby blanket which made an acceptable skirt for our hasty exit.

As we departed the store, Emily's parting request was even more entertaining; "Daddy, we play golf game again? I replied that since she had no pants on and the golf game was probably still saturated, we would not be going back today. To all of this she offered, "We come back tomorrow then?"

Entertaining side note: Ironically, the reason we went to Dick's was to buy Emily a water bottle - an attempt to get her to drink more water at home:)

Addendum: Below you see the lovely water bottle which, I might add, is fulfilling its role very well. I took the girl to the bathroom six times within two hours this evening.