Is there anything that strikes fear into the heart of the “average” man like the threat of changing diapers??? That gets made fun of all over TV and in homes everywhere.
The truth? I have never had an issue with changing diapers. I would just go and change the kids if they needed it. It was always funny to watch my Dad squirm and my Mom ttry to take the kids to change them. Diapers no problem.
I do complain about them now, because my almost 4 year old is doing what I was afraid of more than anything when we first had kids. Potty Training. There should be horror movies written about potty training. There should be death metal songs about it. The end result is fantastic but the process sucks.
The ONLY thing I was nervous about when our first daughter was born 9 years ago was potty training. And not crushing her with my inept grip. Potty training time has been the worst time I have had dealing with my kids. Kind of silly huh? I would rather do diapers if you must know the truth. Flip a brain switch and suddenly they are trained! Woo Hoo! Doesn’t happen though.
Now, you may wonder why I am talking about potty training. It is something I have been doing with my nearly 4 year old daughter who is not potty trained. I have been working with her and it is coming but still….. Why is she nearly 4 and not potty trained? I am just lazy.
No seriously, she spent 2 full years without any kidney’s. She didn’t urinate for 2 years straight. We saved tons of money on diapers. She was completely dependent on dialysis (dialysis is a helluva lot more expensive than diapers, in both money and soul. Not a strategy to save anything) for those years and didn’t have any bladder function at all.
You want a good laugh? Watch the interns at the hospital digging through the diaper pail looking for the wet diaper that just had to be there. We would let them go for a while and then remind them that “bi-lateral nephrectomy” (both kidney’s removed) means she will not have a wet diaper….EVER! The senior Nephrologists love that story too.
So we are here almost exactly 1 year after she received her new kidney. It took several months for her bladder to stretch back out to where it would hold more than a teaspoon at a time. It took time for her muscles to be able to hold in some urine. For the past 2 months, she has been doing well and is fairly normal with her control, if a year behind. We are not worried, it is the time now to get her trained. I am sick of diapers and pull ups.
Besides, there will be a whole new round of diapers when the new baby gets here in July. I will be stuck with diapers for another couple of years and then be done. And then another round of potty training. I can do it. *Deep Breath* I have to, I am the Dad.
Please regale us with your potty training stories below! I would love to hear them!
-Justin
