Another Not What I Expected Revelation

There are so many things that we don't expect when we think about becoming parents. Living in a family where little kids were always around and being an experienced babysitter, I had a huge advantage in this department. I expected things like spit up, crying, stinky diapers, tantrums, sleepless nights, worries, fevers, spills, and stains.

And I am pretty good at anticipating things. I frequently find myself thinking things like, "Yes, it's okay to let her play with your hair now that she is a tiny little baby, but how will this tugging feel when she is a robust toddler?" Or, "If I let her take that stick inside, she will bang it on every surface to test the sound and I will have a headache and a bunch of stick marks on everything." I understand the need to be a few steps ahead of the kids developmentally and strategically.

But here's something to file under "things I did not anticipate" as a parent.

I did not anticipate spending 20 minutes in a public restroom staring at the wall and not talking to my kid while she uses the potty. (Nor did I anticipate the number of times I would do this.) I did not expect hauling all of the kids and their stuff up the hill a second time for another potty adventure with another kid a mere 20 minutes after the first visit.

I'd like to end with something lame like, "It goes to show you that crap happens." However, I won't be that lame tonight. I will merely add that my kids learned the fun in potty talk on the same day they spent half of the day touring the public restroom at the local park. They spent the whole drive home insulting each other with potty words (which sound like a blur of nothing to me, but included things like
"doo doo" and "underpants"), followed by fits of giggles. G laughed so hard that she gave herself a wicked case of hiccups. Even V, who couldn't see anyone's face and doesn't yet understand potty humor, laughed herself silly.