Inside Fatherhood

Wiping the Bum

by steve on November 5th, 2006

As a first time dad there are just so many things you have to learn the hard way. By the time the 2nd or 3rd child goes through the same stuff the 1st one went through then you begin to get better at it all. Some of these things include, being gentle while feeding the baby, rocking the baby to sleep, walking the baby, and changing diapers. All of these things shed a new light on how we view not only our child but the world. It takes a lot more energy and attentiveness you never knew you had when you were out in the workplace. There are so many parts to raising kids you just don’t picture in your mind heading into daddy-hood.

So with the 1st child you are covering new territory. One of the biggest and most difficult challenges early on in the tottler years is potty training. It is so much of a big deal that you actually think a lot about it. Can’t help it when your kid is running to the bathroom every 7 minutes. It isn’t necessarily that they have to go potty but rather there were rewards and praise the last time they went, they just want more praise. So off to the potty we go.

When your day consisted of pounding nails or working retail a lot of your after work discussion pertained to what you did all day on the job. Well that still works except as a daddy you start talking about weird stuff. You find yourself sitting next to one of your guy friends and turning to them and saying something that sounds a little bit like this, “Hey my kid actually went poop in the potty today,” with a straight face as you take another sip of your beer.

But it isn’t just that. There are stages to this. First they sit all the time on the potty. Once they get used to it then they finally go. Then more sitting. Then they finally go. But once they go consistently, they aren’t done. Now they need to wipe themselves. The child can go through the motions but that doesn’t mean the job got done if you know what I’m getting at. Well, no man (or woman) likes to mess with poop. Diapers were bad enough but now you don’t want to have to keep wiping butts. You want to move on to bigger and better things. So when the day finally arrives where they are wiping their own butt it’s a day to celebrate. Now kids think we are praising them when they reach that “wiping butt” milestone. Truth is we are celebrating the fact that there is no more looking, smelling, and wiping butts, the same butt you wiped for the last 2 1/2 years. Break out the beer, the wine, the cheese and crackers.

Well, Mystery Mommy shares with us all how her child wiped their bum. It is definitely worth celebrating!

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POSTED IN: Parenting, Stay at Home Dads