Where do we pee?

After a good five weeks or so of potty attempts, my frustration level has exceeded J's ability to use the potty, so I think I'm going to tone it back down. He still has no problem going, he just won't stop what he's doing to do it, or admit it. I realized I was getting frustrated not becasue he wasn't going, but because I was feeling like a failure. He, of course, doesn't really care, and I certainly don't want him to think that the potty is all I care about. So from now on, I will ask him at his diaper changes if he wants a diaper or underpants, and we'll go from there.

I think it's complicated by his overall maturity in other areas, especially language. He has the verbal skills of a five year old, and he's also kind of a big kid. Not huge, but about 38 inches and 31 pounds, and so sometimes I expect too much out of him. He is only 2 and a half, after all. And why do I even care about when he potty trains? He's not going to day care or preschool or any place which requires potty training, so why do I care? I think I feel like, as a stay-at-home mother, my child should be more advanced in everything to justify my time with him. I don't get this message from H, but I think in general I am a defensive person, even before I am questioned about anything, and this is one way it comes out.

I need to focus on what he CAN do. For example, as of this morning, he can cut all the way through a small peice of paper with scissors, he can peel and stick his own stickers, and he can trace lines pretty decently. He also has amazing narrative abilities, and remembers absolutely everything we tell him, including me saying "your stupid train". He thought that was it's proper name, and called it, "My stupid train" all day. Great.

He can also remember about 20 different songs, about 20 nursery ryhmes, and can crack an egg without getting any shell in the bowl. He can identify several different kinds of birds and maybe 10 different flowers, and is generally the most amazing person I've ever met. He can wear diapers forever if he wants. Soon enough he'll be able to change them himself.

And he can type his first name on the computer. Sweet.
Thanks for reading,
-Anne