July 31, 2008
Dear Everyone Who Encouraged Me to Potty Train My Children,
My kids are four years old now and they are finally potty trained.
(Yeah, it took me two entire years to accomplish potty training. I consider it a long term goal.)
Yes, it is wonderful that I am saving buttloads of money on pull-ups and diapers. Yes, I appreciate the freedom of not having to change 8 – 20 diapers a day. (Twins, people.) Yes, I am glad they are no longer the only children in their class who aren’t toilet trained and that this is probably a huge step towards getting them out of the house and marrying them off.
I had been warned about boys peeing all over the toilet seat.
It wasn’t so much that I didn’t believe you. It is just that Gabe is really good about aiming (as far as I can tell) and apparently so were my Dad and brother. I don’t ever remember it being a big problem.
Even now, it isn’t so much the pee on the seat. When it is your baby boy’s pee it isn’t a big deal to be wiping it off the seat. I mean – I changed his diaper for FOUR YEARS I am familiar with his urine. The problem is the smell.
My kids entire bathroom smells like pee.
A lot.
It isn’t even that Ian is so bad at aiming. It is that he is really bad at focusing on the task at hand.
The other day he came out of the bathroom and informed me that he had a little accident. No, he didn’t pee in his pants. He peed all over the shower curtain.
How does one accidentally pee all over the shower curtain?
In short, while I am thrilled that my children are now housebroken I would like to warn all other mothers of boys who are not yet potty trained.
Be careful what you wish for.
Or just buy a lot of bleach.
Love,
Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah
________________________
Don’t forget to check out the Perfect Post Awards. This month I awarded my buddy Stimey for her post How to Save Up for Your Vacation. It made me laugh. A lot.
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July 31st, 2008 at 6:25 pm, Headless Mom Says:
At least you don’t have 2 boys. I’m forever scrubbing the floor around the toilet because of the attention issue. Gah!
July 31st, 2008 at 6:40 pm, michelle Says:
I hear you on that one. We have washed the shower curtain many times and I basically clean the bathroom every time I enter it. Luckily Gabriel’s aim has slightly improved, the focus has gotten a little better in the last few months.
July 31st, 2008 at 6:46 pm, A Says:
You’ve GOT to be kidding me. Your children are just now potty trained???????
July 31st, 2008 at 6:50 pm, Ma McFartington Says:
Try a small bowl of vinegar behind the toilet, it will absorb some of the smell.
July 31st, 2008 at 7:04 pm, Procrastamom Says:
(hey! A’s not being very nice up there!)
Yep, that damned shower curtain sure gets smelly fast. I’d like to hint at my SIL that that’s why her bathroom stinks, but I haven’t got the guts to be that forward.
July 31st, 2008 at 7:39 pm, April Says:
I have to tell you that Maddy and I both yell at our guys to put the seat back down….ALOT! And I laughed so hard at the “accident” I nearly peed my pants.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:33 pm, Mrs. Who Says:
Well, my toddler grandson has not peed on the shower curtain (yet) but the bathroom certainly did stink after he was here for the weekend!I cleaned around the toilet a couple of times and it still smelled like pee. It was making me crazy. Then I remember him peeing straight back several times. I went and got a Q-tip and my Fantastik and cleaned the back of the toilet that kinda is under the tank, you know? I used four Q-tips before they stopped turning green and nasty. I am not a fabulous housekeeper, please believe me!, but that smell was killing me. That finally took care of it. Of course, if you have someone peeing back there regularly….may not help!
July 31st, 2008 at 8:38 pm, Christoph Says:
I used to pee on our rhubarb. It was no accident.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:04 pm, Robin Says:
Bleach became my BF and still is although son is almost 10. What I don’t understand is that the toilet seat isn’t that bad anymore, but around the toilet on the floor is. I just don’t understand how it can be so hard to stand, hold, aim and pee.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:16 pm, Seriously Mama Says:
I am in the middle of night training now AND washing blankets and sheets almost daily AND his room still smells like pee. Don’t feel so bad…
July 31st, 2008 at 10:05 pm, Alison Says:
I am very, very afraid now. My son is two and not even close to being potty trained, and I was so looking forward to the day when he is…*sob*
July 31st, 2008 at 10:17 pm, cheryl Says:
What I want to know is why the diapers never smelled like our downstairs bathroom now does?
Taking notes…vinegar, bleach…do those Vanillaroma trees work?
(Congrats on the completion…the pee smell shall pass…I’m hoping it will at least…for both our sakes…)
July 31st, 2008 at 10:20 pm, Mama Maven Says:
OMG, that made me laugh out loud and again make me thankful for my two easy to potty train girls. Our problem is that while they use the potty, wiping isn’t big on the list. And somehow after flushing being a big event, its become a non-event. Ewwwwwwww
July 31st, 2008 at 10:42 pm, feener Says:
hubby just walked out of my almost 2 year old’s room and said, it smells like cat pee in there. ahhhh yea, my whole house smells like shit and pee.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:48 pm, DCUrbanDad Says:
That is hilarious. Sorry.
Aim never gets better
August 1st, 2008 at 12:11 am, De in D.C. Says:
I guess i lucked out then in that our shower is on the other side of the sink from the toilet. I don’t think his spray can reach that far. However, our problem spot is behind the seat where the bowl connects to the tank. He hits there instead of the bowl and it drips down the sides. EWWWW.
August 1st, 2008 at 12:54 am, Papa Bradstein Says:
If you wouldn’t let him stay out drinking all night–or day, or whatever–maybe you wouldn’t have this problem.
August 1st, 2008 at 8:42 am, Petunia Says:
Potty training is not done when you use the last diaper. It’s completed when they dependably put all body waste in the proper receptacle. There is often years between the two. (We went camping last week, in a pop-up; 58 y/o husband was whizzing in the woods cause it was closer than the “Loo on the Hill” – see what I mean??)
August 1st, 2008 at 9:52 am, Aprylsantics Says:
Ohhh. I guess A would be even less impressed with me. My one boy (not twins) was a few months into age 4 before he was completely potty trained. Gasp.
Mine just skipped a step and dipped the entire bottom of the shower curtain in the toilet. A freak accident I was told.
As for the smell, I’m kind of anosmic (poor sense of smell), so you’d have to wave a rotting dead skunk around the bathroom a few times to get me to notice. Luckily, the husband and the kids are part bloodhound or I’d be living in a hideous smellatorium.
August 1st, 2008 at 10:03 am, WickedStepMom Says:
It looks like it ti time to teach them how to clean… I mean if he can pee on stuff, aiming with a spray bottle shouldn’t be too hard, right?
August 1st, 2008 at 10:08 am, A Serious Attempt at Fun Says:
Sounds familiar. We clean our kids’ bathroom three times a week and it STILL smells like pee. Only one boy, two girls. But you’ve gotta get down on your knees and scrub like the dickens at the base of the nasty thing. That’s where the pee goes when it “misses”.
What a pain.
August 1st, 2008 at 10:30 am, nick (mem beth) Says:
If’n we weren’t meant to target practice, we guys wouldn’t have been born with built-in water pistols.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:01 am, Britt Says:
HA!! LOL! you make me really feel glad i have two girls. but ian – hilarious!
August 1st, 2008 at 12:04 pm, Lydia Says:
I feel your pain – you haven’t lived until you’ve played ‘where’s that smell’ on your hands and knees in the family room or stepped in mystery puddles in the bathroom. Is it pee? Is it dog drool? Better dip your feet in bleach just in case…
August 1st, 2008 at 12:31 pm, Undomestic Diva Says:
I don’t have to imagine the smell… I have three boys 5 and under and their bathroom is off limits to guests. {shutter}
August 1st, 2008 at 12:42 pm, VegasDad Says:
We’re working on potty training. Our son likes to stick his hand in the stream of pee. I guess he likes the warmth? Only problem is it splatters all over the place.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:14 pm, lovesmukiwa Says:
It doesn’t get better. My brother in his teenage years started to sleepwalk and would pee in the hall linen closet. Something to look forward to.
August 1st, 2008 at 4:15 pm, Maternal Mirth Says:
My two oldest are boys and they share a bathroom. It’s a frigg’in sewer! I have found that if I make them clean up the pee, they aren’t so prone to get sidetracked whist doing their business.
August 1st, 2008 at 4:48 pm, Erika Jurney Says:
I snorted when I got to the ’shower curtain’ line — I’ve got 2 potty trained boys and it never ceases to amaze me the places they can accidentally pee.
August 1st, 2008 at 6:17 pm, MrsBigDubya Says:
Amen
Is it me? or does it seem like there is a lot more volume once they are trained too. I never realized how much urine went into the diaper…. yet, when it’s all over the floor and you need a canoe to get into the bathroom…… you gain some respect for their absorbant power
August 1st, 2008 at 8:54 pm, Stimey Says:
Thank you so much for the Perfect Post award. It made me almost ridiculously happy.
And, yes, the bathroom my kids pee in REEKS of pee. We’ll clean it and 20 minutes later it reeks again.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:03 pm, Mrs. Schmitty Says:
I have to say, my boys aren’t THAT bad at aiming. They have their little mishaps, but nothing major. My friend’s son, however, was over the other day and I have NO IDEA what he did. There was pee on the tank of the toilet, on the lid, on the seat, on the floor, AND the shower curtain. I think he was twirling around in circles when he went!
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:25 pm, Heidi Says:
I SO know that smell! My kid’s bathroom has to be scrubbed every day.
Does your son put the seat up at least? I don’t know why, but my 8 year old has decided that he can pee just fine with the seat down. UGH!
August 2nd, 2008 at 3:42 pm, The Mrs. Says:
I am going through all of this now with my 3 year old. He is pretty much potty trained but pees all over the bathroom. I don’t understand how he does it. It must be an art!
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:58 pm, Suzie Says:
That’s why my hubby cleans the upstairs bathroom. I have the three boys and the hubby using the same bathroom, and let me tell you that I avoid it like the plague. It ALWAYS smells like pee – even five minutes after it’s cleaned from top to bottom (they have radar for the clean bathroom). So, since it’s their inability to hit the potty, it’s their mess to clean up!
August 4th, 2008 at 8:48 am, Rachel Says:
AMEN! My boys are 4 and 6 and their bathroom smells so bad it almost burns my eyes. Even if, like everyone else, I’ve scrubbed it from top to bottom not 10 minutes earlier. And I’ve seen with my own two eyes how they peeing-in-a-circle-around-the-bathroom thing happens. At least in our case it happens when the 6 year old yells “Hey Landis!” while Landis is taking a whiz. Apparently he hasn’t figured out how to just turn his head instead of turning his ENTIRE body.
August 4th, 2008 at 5:25 pm, Christina Says:
Your friend A up there in the comments would probably have a fit to know my nearly 4 year old is nowhere close to potty trained.
But I’m reading this and thinking maybe it’s not such a bad thing now.
August 5th, 2008 at 4:05 pm, In the Trenches of Mommyhood Says:
This phenomenon I know allll too well. The problem is: they get distracted. So if you call their name while they’re peeing, they turn their ENTIRE body (thus the pee on the shower curtain, the floor, the rim, the rug, etc.)
Bleach is my bestest friend.
August 7th, 2008 at 10:10 pm, Kristabella Says:
Accidentally peeing on a shower curtain are words that boys shouldn’t utter until college.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:41 pm, Amy Says:
I recently walked into my bathroom to find it smelling of pee too and then found floor covered in a yellowish scum. When questioning my 4 (almost 5) year old – he admitted to peeing on the floor. Why he wouldn’t clean it up or at least inform me that he did it – is beyond me!