To Pee or Not to Pee

So D told me a little story today. We are in the throws of potty training Big Brother (or Pooper 1 as D refers to him, to me). Big Brother was being changed and he peed a little. So Big Brother stated that he needed to go to the potty. D took him to the potty and Big Brother said, “No, I need little potty” (portable training potty). My mom had put it in a bag to take to her house this weekend. Back to the bathroom they went. Big Brother didn’t want to go on the big potty (official toilet), he wanted to go in the tub. So what does every good dad do? He lets him pee in the tub! Then Big Brother wanted daddy to pee in the tub… so what does every good dad do? He pees in the tub himself!

Initially, I was a bit shocked and grossed out. Bonding over peeing in the tub!

But what was the harm? Big Brother enjoyed peeing, he bonded with daddy and the pee flushed down the drain. Good times, good times…

My friend Crystal put a link to a blog post on Facebook, titled So What? The idea behind this post was to really examine why you are saying no. What’s the worst that could really happen? Granted I disagree with almost all of her examples, toddlers shouldn’t be allowed to hurt themselves to learn a lesson. Big Brother certainly does not learn from hurting himself… he keeps doing it. And sending a toddler in the cold rain could be dangerous, pneumonia type dangerous. That said, looking at the heart of her post, I agree and peeing in the tub is a good example of that!

As parents we are called to guide and nurture our children, to help them become independent adults. I need to look more closely at why I am stopping my little guy from doing things, and what could the worst be. Perhaps I am parenting just to parent.

Can you change some of the things you say no to?