Lesson learned: when getting serious about potty training and taking your kid to potty frequently, don't let them out of your sight or get preoccupied with cleaning and such. You might end up with a big mess.
I was going to wait an extra week, but there really is no time like the present. Basically, I'm taking him every few minutes until he goes, watching him for signs, and, of course, heaping on the praise. I'm less enthusiastic about tangible rewards, at least not for every time. My preference is to give him things sometimes so he doesn't expect it. Besides, I still think that he doesn't understand bribery.
I am proud of him for spending the entire day in underpants. Six number ones in the potty; unfortunately he missed 2. And they were twosies.
He fights me. He doesn't want to go. I have to "force" him sometimes, but I am consistent and gentle with him. I don't show him anger, even when he fights me.
I think that we could have done this earlier, if we were willing to treat resistance as we would typical tantrums. It's also a matter of me convincing him, and myself, that he CAN learn to go without diapers. This part is actually more difficult and more inconvenient than having him in diapers, because right now we don't really go many places, and particularly when it is just me and the boys, I have a hard time managing Meatball as well.
And if it hadn't been for stupid cancer, we would have started before he got quite so stubborn. Live and learn...
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Just like the "good" old days
I gave The Boy some Imodium (his doc has previously advised us to give this to him). It was green and minty, and he was NOT interested.
Yet, I got him to swallow just about all of it. Not without fighting. And, of course, before I gave it to him, I explained what it was and what it was for. As if he cared.
After he fought me about this medicine, and he took the medicine, I gave him hugs and told him again that the medicine was to help his stomach feel better.
I haven't had to fight a screaming Boy to give him medicine in a long time--usually it's "Yay! Medicines and bears! I love medicines and bears!" meaning that his standard medications are inoffensive enough and he loves his vitamin and calcium bears.
It is surprising, then, that I remember as well as I do how to get a resistant child to swallow medicine. I am also glad that I didn't get upset with him or lose my temper.
I also give shots pretty well...maybe a career change? Not likely. Particularly not with the hours that nurses typically have.
But then again, I find the prospect of finding a new music teaching job rather daunting. And what could compare to the job that I had?
Anyhow, it's time to put The Boy back to bed. Good night, friends on the interwebs.
Yet, I got him to swallow just about all of it. Not without fighting. And, of course, before I gave it to him, I explained what it was and what it was for. As if he cared.
After he fought me about this medicine, and he took the medicine, I gave him hugs and told him again that the medicine was to help his stomach feel better.
I haven't had to fight a screaming Boy to give him medicine in a long time--usually it's "Yay! Medicines and bears! I love medicines and bears!" meaning that his standard medications are inoffensive enough and he loves his vitamin and calcium bears.
It is surprising, then, that I remember as well as I do how to get a resistant child to swallow medicine. I am also glad that I didn't get upset with him or lose my temper.
I also give shots pretty well...maybe a career change? Not likely. Particularly not with the hours that nurses typically have.
But then again, I find the prospect of finding a new music teaching job rather daunting. And what could compare to the job that I had?
Anyhow, it's time to put The Boy back to bed. Good night, friends on the interwebs.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Stick together
Our therapist, during our biweekly meeting, reminded us that it is essential for the health of the family that Mom and Dad have an emotionally healthy relationship. Meaning us.
What, we go to therapy? We aren't going for couple's therapy per se, because our relationship has fared amazingly well despite forces that might have had a negative effect. We, as two cancer-parents, have a lot of issues through which we need to work on the road to normal. What, you haven't been in therapy for almost two years? No, but it couldn't have hurt.
Anyhow, I keep this in mind when dealing with The Boy. I remember it also when negotiating with others over parenting issues that ate, in the long run, not so significant. Not that we want to go against our own parents or other family members just for the sake of being contrary, but the MOST important issue, when parents make a decision, is that they have conferenced on the subject and present a united front to the child.
It is difficult, because some decisions are made on the fly. What can and cannot be served at dinner, whether bedtime is NOW or whether it follows one more book or game or show.
Even so, it is important for the couple, the parents, to meet their emotional needs through each other. Not their children, not their parents. Yes, Parents do meet emotional needs in children but the difference is clear, or should be. Then the relationship will be better able to survive things line the baby phase and resultant sleep deprivation. And, furthermore, the fact that children require so much physical attention may leave mothers (usually the mothers) feeling touched out; even so, a strong relationship survives. Or, as in our case, the stress of caring for a sick child left us drained, yet we knew that we were there for each other.
Meatball is 10 months old as of Wednesday. Just past The Boy at the age of his diagnosis. Everything that he does is new now, even though he is our second child. He is really interested in walking. He climbs stairs really well. Loves to eat, of course. Loves to nurse, although we have had as few as 4 nursing during the day. And rarely does he nurse at night. Of course, I wish that sometimes he would want to sleep in bed with us but he has no interest. Would have been nice last month when he would not sleep in the pack n play.
Two potty hits today for The Boy. One was a stealth pee; the other was a big yucky poo right before bed. We may need to watch his diet, or perhaps we have a stomach thing, or both. Point is, he actually said he wanted to go and did. I'm very glad that he isn't scared to poo in the potty. Cup peeing, here we come!
What, we go to therapy? We aren't going for couple's therapy per se, because our relationship has fared amazingly well despite forces that might have had a negative effect. We, as two cancer-parents, have a lot of issues through which we need to work on the road to normal. What, you haven't been in therapy for almost two years? No, but it couldn't have hurt.
Anyhow, I keep this in mind when dealing with The Boy. I remember it also when negotiating with others over parenting issues that ate, in the long run, not so significant. Not that we want to go against our own parents or other family members just for the sake of being contrary, but the MOST important issue, when parents make a decision, is that they have conferenced on the subject and present a united front to the child.
It is difficult, because some decisions are made on the fly. What can and cannot be served at dinner, whether bedtime is NOW or whether it follows one more book or game or show.
Even so, it is important for the couple, the parents, to meet their emotional needs through each other. Not their children, not their parents. Yes, Parents do meet emotional needs in children but the difference is clear, or should be. Then the relationship will be better able to survive things line the baby phase and resultant sleep deprivation. And, furthermore, the fact that children require so much physical attention may leave mothers (usually the mothers) feeling touched out; even so, a strong relationship survives. Or, as in our case, the stress of caring for a sick child left us drained, yet we knew that we were there for each other.
Meatball is 10 months old as of Wednesday. Just past The Boy at the age of his diagnosis. Everything that he does is new now, even though he is our second child. He is really interested in walking. He climbs stairs really well. Loves to eat, of course. Loves to nurse, although we have had as few as 4 nursing during the day. And rarely does he nurse at night. Of course, I wish that sometimes he would want to sleep in bed with us but he has no interest. Would have been nice last month when he would not sleep in the pack n play.
Two potty hits today for The Boy. One was a stealth pee; the other was a big yucky poo right before bed. We may need to watch his diet, or perhaps we have a stomach thing, or both. Point is, he actually said he wanted to go and did. I'm very glad that he isn't scared to poo in the potty. Cup peeing, here we come!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Clean Sweep
N.E.D., everyone!
That's "no evidence of disease" for those who were curious.
Basically, it means that The Boy had clean scans!
Also, he is down to one medicine, once a day.
Plenty of typical kids take a medicine at some point.
Wow...starting to feel even more normal.
That's "no evidence of disease" for those who were curious.
Basically, it means that The Boy had clean scans!
Also, he is down to one medicine, once a day.
Plenty of typical kids take a medicine at some point.
Wow...starting to feel even more normal.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Score one for the revolution!
This morning, The Boy got downstairs before I did. He had already been in to visit Grandma, who had done him the courtesy of removing his wet night diaper. I was getting dressed and then had to get Meatball, who was awake (though content). When we arrived downstairs, The Boy was going through the drawers in the bathroom and had picked out a pair of Elmo underpants. I'm thinking, oh crap--where's the puddle?
Turns out, he had taken himself to the bathroom and had gone in the Elmo potty. Himself!
Breakfast was also pee-free.
Unfortunately, as I cleaned up from breakfast, he had wandered off and in the few minutes had gone poo in his Elmo underpants.
Can't win 'em all.
But that is HUGE progress, that he went by himself with no prodding or cajoling on our part, just a suggesting several minutes earlier that he might want to try.
Scan results come today, so we're probably just going to stay home.
Turns out, he had taken himself to the bathroom and had gone in the Elmo potty. Himself!
Breakfast was also pee-free.
Unfortunately, as I cleaned up from breakfast, he had wandered off and in the few minutes had gone poo in his Elmo underpants.
Can't win 'em all.
But that is HUGE progress, that he went by himself with no prodding or cajoling on our part, just a suggesting several minutes earlier that he might want to try.
Scan results come today, so we're probably just going to stay home.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Big Day in Medicine
CT Scans AND Nephrology today. Long afternoon.
We've learned, now, that we don't need or even want to schedule two appointments on the same day, because what's the point? We live close to the hospital and it's not that difficult to just show up on two different days.
So the CT procedure at this hospital is, they have patients stop eating 3 hours before. The patient arrives two hours before. Then the patient has to drink the contrast. They mix it in a drink and divide it up into three cups. The patient is in a room doing nothing but drinking this stuff. If The Boy were an older child, he'd just drink the cup at the designated time and spend the other 29 minutes of each half-hour doing whatever he felt like, but naturally, it was a bit of a production and he didn't drink all of it. He did okay, drinking more than half, but it took a bit longer than we thought because the people over in radiology were debating how much was really enough...
It's not too much fun.
But the nice thing is, he doesn't need to go without food or drink for any real length of time because they don't sedate him.
The CT was VERY easy, particularly since I brought Toy Story (knowing that they have a DVD player and a TV above the CT). This is his current favorite film. The Boy didn't even complain, because all he had to do was lie there and watch his movie while the machine moved him in and out a few times.
And when he was done, he got a pirate hat.
THEN up to nephrology. Blood pressure is good. He's having the dose of his Enalapril dropped, so we'll only give it in the morning. He also might not need the Bicarb anymore. Tricky thing about the Enalapril is that while it does protect the kidney in some ways, it also can skew the creatinine level, which was measuring high today. His last blood chemistry showed normal levels of electrolytes, including potassium.
He needed a blood draw in the lab, which I figured, so I had them leave the port accessed from the scan. But then, we had to go to the lab, which was in a different location. Only to find out that the people in the lab do not do blood draws from ports. They have to call the IV team.
Really? Are you serious? Never mind that I could easily do it MYSELF if I had the proper equipment in my hands.
The good news is that during the wait for the IV team (which never showed up), The Boy did produce the urine sample. In the bag.
The bad news is that since I was sick of waiting for the IV team, he had to get his blood drawn from his arm after all. But I should have known better--that's what they do all day, so they don't really have trouble with it.
We get results from both the CT scan and from the lab tomorrow. I'm trying not to think about it too much.
Two successful potty visits today! The first was, The Boy woke up at 6 AM and he wanted a new diaper. I convinced him to go to the potty, and although there was a little bit of poo in it, a LOT more went into the toilet. I'm pleased that it wasn't in either a diaper or even in his little potty, because cleanup would have been a major pain. The other was a pee right before his bath. Unfortunately, I could not get him to pee in a cup today. Maybe next time.
Tomorrow might be nice out, after some rain in the morning. Maybe we'll do some fun stuff to keep our minds off of scanxiety.
We've learned, now, that we don't need or even want to schedule two appointments on the same day, because what's the point? We live close to the hospital and it's not that difficult to just show up on two different days.
So the CT procedure at this hospital is, they have patients stop eating 3 hours before. The patient arrives two hours before. Then the patient has to drink the contrast. They mix it in a drink and divide it up into three cups. The patient is in a room doing nothing but drinking this stuff. If The Boy were an older child, he'd just drink the cup at the designated time and spend the other 29 minutes of each half-hour doing whatever he felt like, but naturally, it was a bit of a production and he didn't drink all of it. He did okay, drinking more than half, but it took a bit longer than we thought because the people over in radiology were debating how much was really enough...
It's not too much fun.
But the nice thing is, he doesn't need to go without food or drink for any real length of time because they don't sedate him.
The CT was VERY easy, particularly since I brought Toy Story (knowing that they have a DVD player and a TV above the CT). This is his current favorite film. The Boy didn't even complain, because all he had to do was lie there and watch his movie while the machine moved him in and out a few times.
And when he was done, he got a pirate hat.
THEN up to nephrology. Blood pressure is good. He's having the dose of his Enalapril dropped, so we'll only give it in the morning. He also might not need the Bicarb anymore. Tricky thing about the Enalapril is that while it does protect the kidney in some ways, it also can skew the creatinine level, which was measuring high today. His last blood chemistry showed normal levels of electrolytes, including potassium.
He needed a blood draw in the lab, which I figured, so I had them leave the port accessed from the scan. But then, we had to go to the lab, which was in a different location. Only to find out that the people in the lab do not do blood draws from ports. They have to call the IV team.
Really? Are you serious? Never mind that I could easily do it MYSELF if I had the proper equipment in my hands.
The good news is that during the wait for the IV team (which never showed up), The Boy did produce the urine sample. In the bag.
The bad news is that since I was sick of waiting for the IV team, he had to get his blood drawn from his arm after all. But I should have known better--that's what they do all day, so they don't really have trouble with it.
We get results from both the CT scan and from the lab tomorrow. I'm trying not to think about it too much.
Two successful potty visits today! The first was, The Boy woke up at 6 AM and he wanted a new diaper. I convinced him to go to the potty, and although there was a little bit of poo in it, a LOT more went into the toilet. I'm pleased that it wasn't in either a diaper or even in his little potty, because cleanup would have been a major pain. The other was a pee right before his bath. Unfortunately, I could not get him to pee in a cup today. Maybe next time.
Tomorrow might be nice out, after some rain in the morning. Maybe we'll do some fun stuff to keep our minds off of scanxiety.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Ah, industry...
Now I know I'm a giant hippie, because I keep seeing these ridiculous ads online for baby stuff and getting irritated.
"The Gerber Generation." Gerber food is processed crap, and the more I hear and the more I promote finger food over purees and cereal for babies starting cereal, the angrier I get about parents and doctors being duped by stupid baby food companies. And their stupid jars of crap. And packages of crap. And of course, Gerber was bought by Nestle around the time that The Boy was born, so "The Gerber Generation" includes Nestle baby formula.
And, as usual, because of our culture being a formula-feeding culture despite the still-fledgling attempt to encourage mothers to feed their children as nature intended, I have to include the usual caveat that some mothers have to use formula for one reason or another and that I don't mean to judge mothers who legitimately have trouble breastfeeding. Which is true, but since this discussion isn't so much about formula vs. breastfeeding, I'm exasperated by the fact that if I don't say something to that effect, someone will pick on the post for being judgmental about formula-feeding mothers. I guarantee it.
Anyhow, I have seen the ads recently about "The Gerber Generation" and I stick my tongue out at them. The messed-up thing is that SO many parents think that because Gerber is a baby-food company, everything that they make is obviously healthy and is ideal for babies. And they have that same picture of a baby that you grew up with, so obviously it is a wholesome company. Gerber food is expensive, processed, and the icing on the cake is that Nestle owns them, and Nestle's aggressive marketing of formula in developing countries has been jeopardizing the lives of babies for decades. So by purchasing this Gerber junk, you are supporting the promotion of formula to families that can't afford it, when breastmilk is free and can't be contaminated due to lack of clean drinking water. Way to go.
Also, did you know that the same people who make Huggies disposable diapers and Pull-Ups also make Depends undergarments? So a person can spend so much MORE time creating disposable diaper garbage thanks in part to the Kimberly-Clark company.
No thank you to the Pull-Ups, by the way. I have enough trouble convincing The Boy that he can't pee in his underpants without making a puddle. Pull-Ups are just a diaper that slides on and off in a slightly easier fashion. For educational purposes, we'll just have to keep the puddles.
"The Gerber Generation." Gerber food is processed crap, and the more I hear and the more I promote finger food over purees and cereal for babies starting cereal, the angrier I get about parents and doctors being duped by stupid baby food companies. And their stupid jars of crap. And packages of crap. And of course, Gerber was bought by Nestle around the time that The Boy was born, so "The Gerber Generation" includes Nestle baby formula.
And, as usual, because of our culture being a formula-feeding culture despite the still-fledgling attempt to encourage mothers to feed their children as nature intended, I have to include the usual caveat that some mothers have to use formula for one reason or another and that I don't mean to judge mothers who legitimately have trouble breastfeeding. Which is true, but since this discussion isn't so much about formula vs. breastfeeding, I'm exasperated by the fact that if I don't say something to that effect, someone will pick on the post for being judgmental about formula-feeding mothers. I guarantee it.
Anyhow, I have seen the ads recently about "The Gerber Generation" and I stick my tongue out at them. The messed-up thing is that SO many parents think that because Gerber is a baby-food company, everything that they make is obviously healthy and is ideal for babies. And they have that same picture of a baby that you grew up with, so obviously it is a wholesome company. Gerber food is expensive, processed, and the icing on the cake is that Nestle owns them, and Nestle's aggressive marketing of formula in developing countries has been jeopardizing the lives of babies for decades. So by purchasing this Gerber junk, you are supporting the promotion of formula to families that can't afford it, when breastmilk is free and can't be contaminated due to lack of clean drinking water. Way to go.
Also, did you know that the same people who make Huggies disposable diapers and Pull-Ups also make Depends undergarments? So a person can spend so much MORE time creating disposable diaper garbage thanks in part to the Kimberly-Clark company.
No thank you to the Pull-Ups, by the way. I have enough trouble convincing The Boy that he can't pee in his underpants without making a puddle. Pull-Ups are just a diaper that slides on and off in a slightly easier fashion. For educational purposes, we'll just have to keep the puddles.
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