I'm so stressed about toilet training that I want to cry on a daily basis.

Easier said than done, I know, but try not to stress about it. I finally had to just come to accept that Em is pissed about not controlling where she lives and not going to school all the time and so she's exerting some control by peeing where she wants, not where mommy and daddy want. OTOH, it's been SO HARD to not take it personally and wonder why my child must spite me so. But, it's SO EFFING HARD not to stress about it. Sometimes, I just want to shake her and say, "WHO ARE YOU PEEING FOR???"

I wonder if the non-parents get tired of the topic. But maybe it's just like cats or baseball.

Exactly like cats or baseball. Except more interesting to me. :)

It IS a little werid how much it's changed around here, but so be it--change or die!

Nora's link is indeed the slashiest thing in the history of jurisprudence. (Or, okay, maybe not, but still! slashy!)

Easier said than done, I know, but try not to stress about it.

This is me wrt Ellie sleeping through the night. I know she doesn't need to nurse for anything other than comfort. I'm not going to cut her off, but I'm so ready for her to just lose interest.

Cashmere, have you tried messing with his head, a little? I don't mean actual shaming here, but have you ever made him come into the room while you change Liv, and talk about how stinky, yucky and babyish the whole diaper deal is, and how nice and clean it is to use the potty?

I know Owen's a confirmed nudist (which would be worth if he'd use the frigging potty and not run outside to neighbors porches, buck naked) so maybe that won't help, but it's just a thought.

Cashmere, have you tried messing with his head, a little? I don't mean actual shaming here, but have you ever made him come into the room while you change Liv, and talk about how stinky, yucky and babyish the whole diaper deal is, and how nice and clean it is to use the potty?

Oh, yeah. Done that. His own shitty diapers and Liv's. He tells me when he's poopy but very casually. When he's tired of the diaper or being wet, he shrugs out of it and runs naked.

I can't even get him to SIT on the potty for a second or two and I can't force him. It's crazy making. I wish Christopher would step up and take the kid into the bathroom with him but he's got privacy issues and doesn't perform for an audience.

I take him in with me, and whenever he asks to "use the potty, please," I take him into the bathroom. Where he tears off toilet paper, flushes it and then wants to climb up and wash his hands. We do this about four times a day.

A quick question for Steph and other Bodyglide pimpers.

I walked 8 miles yesterday and got a blister on my little toe (oh, poor me!)...which will make my 5 mile group walk tomorrow less than pleasant.

Does Bodyglide work on feet?

And, now that I'm ready to order the product, I discover there are roughly 15 variations! There is skin, sun, muscle...in stick, lubricant and rub.

Which one should I get?

I'm pretty sure I don't need the sunscreen version since the bits that rub aren't sun-visible.

I wonder if the non-parents get tired of the topic.

I don't. I like it.

I find it kind of amusing. And, yes, there seems to be more babies and parenting talk ... there was a while there when the sexiest thing discussed was Mr. Clean and his Magic Eraser (and wouldn't THAT be a fun porn story!).

I can't even get him to SIT on the potty for a second or two and I can't force him. It's crazy making. I wish Christopher would step up and take the kid into the bathroom with him but he's got privacy issues and doesn't perform for an audience.

It's so hard. When Ben was resistant, I had him pee in a cup. I got a big package of decent sized Solo plastic cups and had him pee in them. He thought that was great fun. When Chris was resistant, Scott got him to start by making an X (with their urine streams), which cracked Chris up.

I'm sorry Christopher has these issues. I don't know what to do about that -- at least not anything that doesn't involve a good cluesticking, and you might hurt your back, if you're too vigorous with the cluestick. I'm pretty modest (I think due to being an only child) but not so much with my kids, or I would never have used the bathroom for the first five years or so I was a mother.

eta...

The key to the peeing in a cup thing is to do it in the bathroom, over the toilet, and then letting the child get to pour the pee in the toilet, because (a) you're getting him used to going into the bathroom when he has to relieve himself, and (b) because they love pouring out the pee.

eta again...

And treating peeing in the cup like a funny joke fun, slightly subsersive thing to do doesn't hurt, either.