I haven’t written about this topic because I’m in a half-hearted denial about the whole thing, but our potty train derailed quite a while ago.  My joke is our Potty Train is called “The Little Engine that Can Do it But Won’t.” After a solid month or two of great potty use, we started to see some more “accidents.”  Eventually it became clear that these “accidents” were not accidental and the potty issue had come a classic toddler-control issue.  So we gave in.  Yep, Clare, you have control over going potty.  You “win” and will go back to wearing diapers.  

It’s actually a little bit deeper then that because Clare also started saying that she was not a Big Girl, didn’t want to be a Big Girl (ever) and was, in fact, a Little Girl for life.  All things associated with Big Girl-ness (like wearing underwear) did not interest her at all.  So after much parental head scratching, and some tearing out of hair, frantic Googling, and conferring with our wonderful pediatrician, we let it alone for the past few months.  Clare is a Little Girl and that’s cool with us.

As of last weekend though, I decided to take a different tract.  Up until now being a Big Girl is extra work and a little unknown and scary.  So we’ve started listing all of the exciting things that Big Girls can do, like help with cooking, doing somersaults, riding tricycles, eating ice cream, and other fun things.  

Last weekend Clare and I had our first Big Girl Date, which was a no-babies-allowed morning activity just the two of us.  We ended up watching the Rose Parade in downtown Portland, riding the streetcar, eating gyros, petting dogs, and generally having adventures.  It was a blast and Clare told me several times that she “loved Big Girl dates.”  We’ll probably do some kind of a Big Girl date this weekend with J.