Poop: It's What's For Dinner

My younger son, Tot-Tot, is totally obsessed with poo-poo. And pee-pee. And poo-poo and pee-pee.

He is a really verbal child. He started talking well before he was a year old. He has an extensive vocabulary. Self-expression is a true talent of his.

But you wouldn't know it.

Because, these days, it's all potty talk. All the time.

If you ask him how he's doing, he'll say, laughing: "POOPY IN YOUR UNDERPANTS!"

If you ask him what he wants for dinner, it's: "Poo-poo. And pee-pee." (And then he might add something about eating it until he gets so sick he dies. Oof.)

If you ask him to share a toy, he might respond: "I'm gonna poop all over your head!"

Behold the 3-year-old mind. (And he's turning 4 in 2 short weeks.)

My older son, Big Boy, never had a poop obsession. So even though potty talk seems totally age-appropriate, I didn't have to endure it with boy number one. Big Boy also had no problems with pooping on the potty, which has been an ongoing issue for Tot-Tot. TT is one of those preschoolers who will only poop in a pull-up. He wants to go standing up. In a corner. Often in the playroom. Or under a table. Sometimes in a restaurant. It's. So. Ew. But I try not to make a big deal of it. And he has agreed that when he is four, he will go on the potty.

God, I hope so.

And maybe...just maybe...then the endless potty talk will stop. Once the poop goes in the potty, maybe then he won't need to be so obsessed with it.

Maybe? (Please don't tell me this is just a boy thing.) (And that I will have to live with this.) (I am dreading the pre-teen years enough already.) (Thanks.)

Tot-Tot Gets Moral

My husband desperately needed a break today, so I decided to take the kids out for a Sunday afternoon on my own. I actually love these kinds of outing with them; solo-parent-with-no-agenda afternoons rock. I let them pick where they wanted to go, and out-of-the-blue, my 3-year-old, Tot-Tot, decides that today is the day for his first-ever carousel ride. So, off to the mall we go...me and 2 happy, excited boys...and we buy TICKETS (tickets are apparently VERY exciting!) and hitch a ride...






And after 3 consecutive rides, I was completely queasy and convinced the kids to get an early dinner...

--skip to bedtime---

As I was putting Tot-Tot to bed tonight, he was full of questions about the merry-go-round. But he wasn't interested in things like the mechanics of it, like his older brother would have been at this age, he was interested in...the tickets! He asked me over-and-over-again about the tickets...it went something like this:

tt: Mommy, why do you need a ticket to go on the carousel?
me: to show that you paid for the ride
tt: you have to pay for the ride?
me: yes, the ticket shows that you paid for the ride
tt: but why do you have to pay?
me: because it costs money for them to run the carousel...so everyone has to pay for that
tt: but what if you got on the ride WITHOUT a ticket???
me: you can't get on the ride without a ticket
tt: (excited) but what if you DID?! What if you got on the ride anyhow, without a ticket??!?
me: then they would take you off of the ride, because you have to have a ticket
tt: (more excited) but what if you STILL GOT ON THE RIDE WITH NO TICKET?!?
me: you can't ride without a ticket, it's not allowed
tt: BUT WHAT IF A KID GETS ON THE RIDE WITH NO TICKET?????
me: (exasperated) Then you'd get a free ride. But it would be naughty.
tt: And then the POLICE WOULD COME! And they would TAKE YOU TO JAIL! And they would GO AWAY and LEAVE YOU THERE and you'd have to STAY IN JAIL!
me: Well, I don't know. If that happened mommy would come get you.
tt: So you should just get a ticket and not go to jail.
me: Right.

What would Kohlberg say?

Deconstructing Mary's Lamb

Tonight, as I sang Tot-Tot (age not-quite-3) his special-request song, "Mary Had A Little Lamb"...the following conversation occurred:

Me: (singing) "...he followed her to school one day, which was against the rule..."
TT: (interrupting) Why was it against the rule?
Me: Tot-Tot, I am singing.
TT: But why? Why was it against the rule?
Me: Because you can't bring an animal to school.
TT: But I bring my animals to school.
Me: Yours are stuffed. You can't bring a real animal to school. Like our cat, you can't bring her to school.
TT: Why can't I bring our cat to school?
Me: Because she is alive.
TT: Why is she alive?
Me: Because she breathes and eats and makes a pee-pee.
TT: (like this is news to him) How does she make a pee-pee?!?!
Me: (avoiding the actual question) She goes in the litter box.
TT: And sometimes she vomits. And that is NAUGHTY.
Me: Yes, sometimes she vomits and I don't like that.
TT: But why did Mary bring a lamb to school?
Me: Well, actually, the lamb followed her, so she didn't really bring it.
TT: So, the lamb was naughty?
Me: It's time for night-night.