Worst Mommy Moment

It was a Saturday morning early on in potty training. In fact, we hadn't even really begun yet. I had rented equipment from Glazier's that I needed to return that morning, so we were up early to get ready and out of the house. I gave Niall his breakfast and then he decided that he wanted to sit on the potty. Of course I put him on the potty, and there he sat. He was playing with cars and sitting on the potty quite happily, and I was keeping an eye on him and getting everything else ready to go.

He sat there and sat there and refused to get up. The plan was to let Jude sleep in, but it was getting later and later and Niall absolutely refused to get off the potty so eventually I had to wake him up. I've never seen Niall so absolutely determined, so we thought maybe something important was about to happen and we certainly didn't want to interfere with his progress. So Jude got up, Niall continued to sit on the potty, and I headed out to return my equipment.

When I left, Niall had probably been sitting on the potty for 30 minutes or so. I drove to Glazier's, returned the equipment, and drove all the way back. And where do you think Niall was when I got home? Yep, you guessed it, still sitting on the potty. When I walked in the room he looked at me and immediately burst into tears. He must have been sitting there for nearly 90 minutes! At that moment I felt like the worst mom in the world. He had a bright red ring imprinted on his bottom, and his little feet must have been asleep! It was so sad!

The thing is, it's not like we didn't try to get him up. One parent was with him at all times, intermittently suggesting that he get up and put his diaper on. He just refused to get up! After this I thought for sure he'd be traumatized and never want to sit on the potty again, but sure enough he's doing fine now and we're getting there with only minor, occasional drama.

I wish I had some insight to end this story with, but I'm still not sure what I'd do differently. Sometimes that's the way it goes I guess. This is my life, in progress. Being a mom always makes me wish I was a better, smarter, more exceptional person. There are plenty of opportunities to feel stupid, make the wrong decision, and forget things at the grocery store that I really don't care to go back for. However, even on a bad day being a parent is still the best thing in the world.