Operation Undies - Day One

At long last the potty update is available...and oh, lord, there are a thousand more stories to tell already - but this sets the stage perfectly.

Operation Undies has commenced. Starting this week, each day, after nap time, we are going to hang out at home in undies. Okay, full disclosure, she'll be in her undies, I'll be fully dressed. (Collective sigh of relief).


Day ONE
Tuesday she chose her white Elmo undies with the purple trim and Elmo's smiling face by her belly button. Truth be told, they looked darn cute. Even with the wedgie she kept picking at.

I considered posting a picture, but then I considered the fact that my child's bottom doesn't need to be floating around the Internet and that when she's 15 she'll probably be rather thankful.


Forty-five minutes in and the undies were dry and the potty was used. If she made it to bedtime accident free I would have dubbed it a successful opening to the undertaking.However, being that this interaction happened five minutes before Operation Undies went into full effect I should have been a bit more skeptical.

I clued Andy into Operation Undies and then ran out the door to exercise. When I got home they were picking up her toys and laughing. I asked how she did and he said fine - I believed him, but I checked anyway.

• Me: Addie, did you peepee your undies?
• Addie: Hmmmm, what Mommy?
• Me: Did you go peepees in your undies?
• Addie: Just a little bit, Momma. Just a little bit. I poopoo too.

Sure enough, in addition to her damp pants there was faint mud mark on the inside of her pretty Elmo undies.

• Me: Addie, you poopooed?
• Addie: Yep. In garbage.
• Me: There's poopoo in the garbage? Please show me.

We walked up to her room where she turned to me and said:

See. In put in my garbage. And a little bit on the floor.

And, hot damn, wasn't she telling the whole truth. There was a mound of poo just inside her Diaper Genie and few strays on the floor. I wanted to scream. I wanted to stomp my foot. I wanted to ground her until she was twelve. Or at least old enought to properly wipe her own bottom.

But she kept staring at me with those big eyes, and telling me the truth, and looking a bit disappointed in herself. I couldn't yell. I couldn't be angry (well, not too angry).

I sat her down. We talked about using the toilet and the importance of trying and how she is a big girl. We talked about how yucky poop is and how important it is to put it in the toilet.

She nodded her head. She promised to try. I believed her.

Wednesday is another day, right?

*In case inquiring minds want to know, that's chocolate pudding smeared all over her face. I think she's saving some in case she doesn't get a treat later.

**And yes, she calls her Pull-Ups her "underwears" and now I do to. So much for caring about proper English.

***Let me be clear - in no way was this a reflection on Andy's parenting. She's sneaky and quick and eager to please. She dumped her poop in the Diaper Genie and put her undies back on....I think we have a long road ahead of us. Oi vey.