My Big Break

I used to say I wanted seven kids. That was long before I knew just how challenging parenthood would be.

One summer, between my Junior and Senior year of high school, I was a nanny for a family of five kids. I fed them their meals and did an occasional load of laundry but the majority of my days were spent sitting by the pool at their tennis club while making sure that each of the five children got to their tennis lessons on time. It was the easiest job I ever had. I handled the brood with ease and we shared a mutual adoration for one another.

The kids all came to my graduation the following summer and presented me with a "#1 Mom" charm for my charm bracelet. My naivity led me to believe that motherhood would be just as grand as those summer days by the pool. Five was a piece of cake, seven would be even better! It's important to note, however, that the youngest of "my" five was six, quite independent and most certainly potty trained. Parenthood has brought me many challenges but that one single responsibility of weaning my children of diapers has caused me more fits of anger and frustration than almost, I say almost, anything else.

A few months ago Alyssa suggested that Natalie become potty trained. The scars from my previous two endeavors are deep so I abruptly told her that the time was not right. She's not even two and a half and while she was showing interest, I simply did not have the energy to face the dreadful task. Alyssa continued to propose the idea and finally decided to take it upon herself to dress her sister in panties.

I truly didn't believe it would ever happen to me. Did children that potty train themselves really exist? She actually takes herself when she needs to go. My older two kids took months, or should I say years, to fully grasp the concept. We've dealt with all kinds of accidents, bed wetting and other more serious potty issues but this, this is my big break. And darn it, I think I've earned it!

They are both equally proud of the new "Hello Kitty" and "Curious George" undies!

I still can't believe how easy this has been. In fact, I've hestitated to write about it for fear of a regression. It's just too good to be true! I'll just enjoy this break while it lasts.