Name Calling

The other night we were at our neighborhood pool. There was a father there with three boys, ages roughly 2, 4 & 6. Towards the end of the evening Nicky and the 4 y.o. were on the tennis courts chasing each other around. Nicky was growling and the boy was laughing. The 6 y.o. then joined them and started calling Nicky "idiot" and the 4 y.o. joined in with "poopyhead." As I was about to intervene the father came and grabbed both boys, berated the boys in the tone of voice usually associated with times when your kids have totally mortified you. After a few minutes of lecturing the father bought the boys over and they apologized to both Nicky & me.

Nicky was oblivious and had thought it was all just good fun. I, on the other hand, was very upset, visibly, so that I couldn't do much more than thank the boys for apologizing. If Nicky was a typical kid, the incident probably would have passed without notice or perhaps escalated with Nicky hurling his own insults. But, he's not, and this is the first time, I've experienced unpleasantness on his behalf.

Could the incident have been handled any differently? The boys' father was so furious I'm not sure they understood why their father were so angry. Not having overheard what he said to the, did he explain that Nicky has a disability? Should I have said anything? And, how to prepare for the next unpleasantness of this sort?

One step forward, two steps back

(or Nothing is as easy as it first seems)

First things I have learned in toilet training Nicky:

1. Nicky can hold his urine for over two hours or until underwear or a diaper are put on.


2. Dogs are good at cleaning up BM and seem to like the taste.


3. While his siblings enjoy potty humor they are grossed out by potty accidents.


4. Warm water on hands really does trigger urination.


5. Staying home most of the day is really boring.

I've been letting Nicky hang out around the house bottom-less most mornings (much to the chagrin of big sis). Then I've been putting him on the potty at intervals. We've had some moderate success and some major failures. This morning started out with a pee accident. Then about an hour later Nicky took his walker into the bathroom. When I went in after him has said "potty". Put him on the potty and he had a BM. Hooray!!! Call Daddy. Give Nicky a cookie

Less than an hour later again he says "potty". Put him on, he sits a while, strains a bit, says "all done". Not five minutes later he had another BM, this time on the porch (this is where the dog comes in.) SIGH. Then about 20 minutes later another BM. SIGH, SIGH.

And, yes he did have three BMs in less than two hours. That's part of the reason I'm pushing for potty training. We are in the midst of a work-up for Celiac. He had the blood work yesterday and I took a stool sample in today. (Had lots of collection opportunities.) Looking over Nicky's record, he hasn't gained any weight in the past 18 months, but has grown almost 2 inches. This is somewhat typical for toddlers but he's at the top of the DS charts for height but falling on the weight charts.

One of these days I will post some knitting. Been doing a fair amount, but lots of startitis.