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Firefighters in the Rain

fire life, Parenting, Photography 4 Responses »

Mar 292010

A co-worker let me know that a local store had firefighter rain jackets and umbrellas in LittleBrother’s size. Instead of running right there, I took my time. I forgot. I remembered. I forgot again. Eventually, one sunny morning after we dropped BigBrother off at preschool, we made our way to the store.

Only to find the rain jackets were all gone.

Thankfully his rain jacket from last year still (mostly) fits. I figure he’ll outgrow it by fall but that’s okay. They did, however, have a firefighter umbrella left. LittleBrother has been looking longingly at BigBrother’s Lightning McQueen umbrella for months now. Not that said umbrella got much use during The Snow That Never Ended but it was present in the truck and both boys would talk about walking in the rain and puddle jumping. So, we bought the firefighter umbrella.

And there it sat.

For weeks.

I’m not complaining at the lack of rain (even though I have awesome new boots). But when you’re two (or four) and all you want to do is use your new umbrella, I’m sure day after day after day of gorgeous, sunshiney days is as big a let down as you can imagine. Every day he asked me if he could use his umbrella. Every day I had to explain that we use our umbrellas in the rain. Every single day he gave me that sad little pouty face that breaks my heart. I may or may not have prayed for a little bit of rain.

And rain it did.

He Loves his Umbrella

I think he was happy.

Happy

And that little grin almost makes the rain tolerable. Almost.

The Silver Lining in the Horrendous Winter Cloud of 2010

Parenting 9 Responses »

Feb 242010

It’s been an awful winter. No doubt. With more snow in the forecast, I’m kind of ready to channel our angry snowman, hold my snow shovel to the sky and shout, “AS GOD AS MY WITNESS, I’LL NEVER SHOVEL SNOW AGAIN!” Except then we’ll have a blizzard so I think I’ll refrain from such dramatics. I will, however, share with you the silver lining of this long, cold, snowy, icy and otherwise awful winter.

LittleBrother is potty trained.

In the winter of 2007, BigBrother and I had to skip weekly coffee with my friends for weeks as he struggled to make heads or tails of his bodily functions. This time around we didn’t have to skip anything. Why? We didn’t get to go anywhere for three weeks anyway due to the weather. Therefore, LittleBrother got three weeks of running around the house in a shirt, underwear, socks and sometimes slippers. Sometimes he threw a pair of Babylegs into the ensemble and cute pictures happened.

Some people do hole up in their homes with their potty interested toddler. They turn down invitations. They avoid the store. They run out of food, starve and everyone goes insane. You know, kind of like what happens when twelve inches of snow get another six inches of snow and then get topped with three more and then some freezing rain as a cherry on top of the sloppy sundae of winter. We had no choice. We were stuck at home. Why not parade around in underwear, sit in the hallway outside the bathroom and put stickers on a piece of construction paper? What else was there to do?

We were brave. Or silly. Probably a little of both. He wore underwear to the calling hours and the funeral last week. Unlike BigBrother, he has no fear of public restrooms. In fact, he adores them. We visit them. Repeatedly. On every trip outside of the house. It’s been interesting but productive. Literally.

He still occasionally has a small accident. The other day, we were taking out the trash during naptime. We came back into the house to hear LittleBrother at his door, his little voice coming out from under, “Sorry, Daddy.” It’s okay, Bubba. Accidents happen. We do some reminding, of course, but he also asks and tells us when he needs to use the bathroom. It’s quite shocking. Writing about it is kind of brave. He’ll probably decide tomorrow that baby diapers are all the rage and I’ll cry.

Maybe it was the book. Maybe it was all that sign language we did with him before he became (wicked) verbal. Maybe it was the awesome underwear he got for Christmas. Maybe it was following anyone who went into the bathroom so that privacy was a thing of the past. Maybe he was so tired of being at home that he created a new challenge for himself (and for us). Maybe he was just ready. I don’t know. All I know is that, except for nights, we’re done with diapers. (Night time readiness is a physiological response, not a matter of training.)

So, despite the cold, long, annoying winter, I’m thrilled that LittleBrother is potty trained. He’s even wearing pants over his underwear during the day now. I maintain that pants are overrated but apparently it’s appropriate to wear them outside the house. Maybe we’ll stay in just a few days more. (Out of necessity. More snow on the way. Woo?)

(By the way, on the post I linked to March of 2007 and in the picture of LittleBrother in February 2009, the boys are wearing the same shirt. Apparently it’s a potty training favorite because it’s short in length which means no pee on it. Win.)