Monday, November 2, 2009

Well you done done me and you bet I felt it...

I'm stoked about this: the first installment in my Q&A blog entry fest: I opened up the blog to questions from you in the comments section. These resultant posts will be then, by design, a little more personal. I hope that works for you. Here we go.



First, Abid and Paula, you will, like the rest of us, have to wait for our vacation to get the SIML photos report on SE Asia. I know, dang. We are leaving in a couple of weeks, and will be there for three more, so I apologise, it'll be awhile. I am researching like crazy and we are all super excited about going.

Can I throw a question out to everyone? If we took our kids to go see, pet, and photograph the uncaged tigers at the Tiger Temple in Thailand, offspring of poached animals, raised by monks, and one of the kids got mauled or eaten, would you all say "duh, what did you think would happen you idiot?"

Yeah, I'm still on the fence on that one.

Paula, I will never run out of the joy and wonder of the everyday. More to come, promise.

Assuming I don't get eaten by a tiger.

Abid, I am waiting to see what you come up with for me! Please, like I tell everybody, you are serously under no obligation to read the whole blog...I can get awfully wordy, and have been writing this for, what, 16 months? I'm happy you come and visit, period. If you ask a question I "already answered" that is A-OK. I bet others will be interested in the answer too.

So....next in line wih their question is my old friend Anonymous. In this case, Anonymous who is obsessed with whether Thomas, being three, is out of diapers yet.



I said I would post, and I will.

Now, depending on what sort of person Anonymous is, this answer will either give them the total evil joy of schadenfreude or they will be disappointed.

Thomas is not out of diapers. We are at about 50-50. He likes his undies, asks for them on a regular basis, and is motivated to be "all the time potty trained" so he can go to school.

We are currently holding Halloweeen candy hostage, released one piece at a time for successful trips to the potty. Also held hostage are the favorite "caterpillar" diapers which he may earn in the same fashion.

Both kids are still wearing pull-ups to bed. (Oh, the horror.) I would very much like to see Bethy out of them in particular.

Every Filipina who picks Thomas up comments "why you have nappies, you are big boy! No nappies for you!" I think his toilet training is going well, if not perfectly. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have to clean piddle out of Persian carpets. If I hear "uh-oh" I pretty much know that will be my next activity for the day. He helps clean up too, of course.



Both kids can now use the regular and squat potties. The squat bit is good for the upcoming trip, as I get the feeling we'll be seeing a lot of those there. A squat potty is flush with the ground. No sitting; there is a place on either side for your feet, often ridged to give you traction on what is usually a wet floor. Generally there is either a personal sprayer or a bucket of water for washing nether reigons which you then use to dump additional water into the toilet to wash it out into the pipes. TP is rare, and if provided goes into a waste basket, not into the drain.

Back to Thomas. We are at that delightful stage of learning where he makes comments and asks questions, at little boy volume, generally waiting in line at the grocery store where there is no graceful escape, about body parts and functions.

Curse the day I taught him the word "nipple." That's all I can say about that.

I'm not too proud...anyone have advice about potty training (or anything else for that matter?) they'd like to levy at us? There may be perfect parents out there but we are most definitely not them.

Actually, I think most of those folks I might be tempted to term "perfect parents" are grandparents.

So there, with perhaps a bit of wincing, is answer #1.

Thank you Anonymous!

11 comments:

Julia said...

I have to admit...petting tigers raised by monks seems pretty darn cool to me. Perhaps visiting with the monks first and seeing what the tiger-mauling ratio is to non-maulings?

Natalie said...

The tiger place has only had "one serious mauling of a visitor" in the 10 years they've been open "and he survived". Internet reviews are all over the board. Families who loved it and said it was definately the highlight of their trip to animal activists who hate it, say the tigers are anything from drugged to beaten. The tigers on YouTube videos people have posted look healthy and act tigerish. The monks and volunteers lead you by the hand around the tigers and pose you for the photos. The place we're staying says we shouldn't miss it. Then again, we are also going to go ride elephants and you should read the internet comments on THAT. (sigh) Also, I know elephants are the most dangerous animals in the zoo...is it like that old actor's saying...never work with children or animals?

Jill said...

I truly believe that when kids are ready to be in big girl/boy underwear, they'll do it. With my 2 girls, I didn't push them at all... and actually my almost 5-year old was about 3 years, 2 months before she transitioned to panties (and is STILL in pull ups at night), and my almost 7 year old was almost 5.5 before she made it thru the night w/o accident (though we just had another one a few nights ago).

I say let him do it when he's ready - it's not like he'll wait until he's in high school...

Jeni said...

Grace was fully night trained at barely three years old. Brianna on the other hand is just over five and still in a pull up at night so I figure they just work at their own pace. I look forward to a diaper free life. :)

Can I be the first to say "I told you so" when you come home with one kid? haha just kidding. I think it sounds great but you read my blog so I'm not always the best person to ask. lol

GG said...

I am a grandparent (tho not a perfect parent) and I have known quite a few boys who were in diapers at 3 but all of them are toilet trained now... As for the pull ups at night, if you have a child who needs them thank goodness they are available. They would have been a boon to my daughter who wet the bed until age 8 or 9. The dr says most children grow out of it and pull ups are better than washing bedding! Thank you for sharing your exotic life with us! P.S. I would say no to the tigers, they are still WILD ANIMALS.

Friendly Neighborhood Librarian said...

I think I've given you my potty training comment before... a friend told my Mother, about my brother, "Let his wife train him."

Seriously, I think when his body and mind is ready, he'll just stop needing diapers. When you think of all that has to come together, it's a wonder any of us are "trained"

And my daughter took quite a while to be dry through the night. Some children sleep very soundly and she just didn't wake up enough to know she had to go. Eventually she did, though I don't remember her age.

I love your blog!

Friendly Neighborhood Librarian said...

I forgot to comment on the tigers.
I think of that song about the snake that is sick and cold and the old woman takes him in. And when he warms up, he bites her.
the refrain is something like, "you knew I was a snake!"

*Paula* said...

I think you're covered on the potty training thing - he'll get it when he's ready. Same with the night time: I believe some kids are not physically capable of holding it all night and they are heavy sleepers. It's a developmental thing - they'll both get there eventually. Don't stress about it!

On the tiger-mauling, hmm...that's a tough one. It would be pretty easy for my family because we are not big on getting up close and personal ;) Good luck with whatever you decide - I'm sure you can figure out a way to get the whole experience without putting your family in danger.

Tanya said...

If you didnt and you never returned would you always wish you did?
A useful question we use whenever we are deciding what we are going to do, where we are going to go and even which job (where)we will take next. I think now a days people can be too precious about safety after all you did get into a plane to get there (and those stats are much worse) and everytime we cross a road here in Asia we take our lives into our own hands so to speak. The road stats here in PP for eg are one of the worst in the world!
Have you checked tripadvisor dot com for unbiased comments from travelers?
On the subject of nappies our oldest was nearly 4 before he was fully off- frustrating but I think they'll do it when they are ready.

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Asad said...
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