They say 'this too shall pass.'
They say 'it's just a phase.'
And in the greater scheme of things a 2 week, 1 month, 3 month, or 6 month 'phase' of difficult, annoying, or just plain exasperating behaviour is barely any time at all. But when you are living it, in the middle of it, with no end in sight - tomorrow? Next week? 6 months? - it's not much fun.
Zoe still won't pee anywhere but the nice new big potty upstairs where she's sure she won't fall in. The brand new training toilet seat was a big hit until it was out of the wrapper and on an actual toilet. Then it too became 'yucky.' So much for that idea. For the most part I have resorted to a DORA backpack with a change of clothes in the car at all times, trying to get her to pee before we go anywhere, and planning only really short excursions.
I have had some creative successes, unfortunately most of them aren't repeatable. For example, I managed to reverse psychology her into using an aging green toilet at our local beer making facility. She's never seen a green toilet before, so it may have given her hope that somewhere out there is the 'purple potty' she tells me she will use if we find it. And me telling her she couldn't use the green one was just too much - she HAD to give it a try. Although I think it started to dawn on her that she had been duped in the middle of the pee.
Today was another resounding away-from-home-peeing success story. The four of us spent a little lunch hour playtime at the beach and of course Zoe decided she had to pee just as we were trying to drag the kids back to the car so Steve could get back to work on time. There was the public washroom. I knew that would be a monumental waste of time, but there were some big oak trees nearby... Knowing that Zoe at times idolizes her brother, and knowing that whenever he has peed on a tree she has wanted to too, I knew I had the perfect opportunity to make the rest of our errands possible (if we had to go home after taking Steve back to work there really wasn't much hope of getting anything else done, and a Zoe who has to pee is a really unpleasant companion). So, recalling the method friend M used with daughter O, I proceeded to assist Zoe in peeing on - or at least beside - a big old oak tree. As she finished her business she beamed up at me; "I got to pee on a tree!!!"
I don't think the mall security will be too happy if we try that on a potted fiscus though.
