The first step to recovery...

They say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. But what happens when you have made it that far but can't quite seem to go any further? My problem is cleaning. I know that I have a problem. And I really do want to change. I want a clean house, really I do! What I lack is the discipline. I mean come on... how hard is it to hang up your clothes or do the dishes? No, seriously, how hard is it? Clearly I haven't the slightest clue. Even when I can see the problem I find a way to distract myself. Call it my cleaning defense mechanism if you will.

Maybe if I put it out there for the world to see it will shame me into changing. So here it goes:

#1. My refrigerator could easily be listed as a category 5 Bio Hazard. There are things growing in there that would baffle scientists. I am almost positive that upon close examination we would find the missing link in what I think used to be baked beans.

#2. I will wait to do the dishes until I have absolutely no choice. When there isn't a clean fork in the house THEN I will do dishes. If both sides of the sink are full I will fill the coffee pot in the bathroom sink. It is pathetic I know. I am a horrible house wife and I am teaching my son bad habits. I really do want to change.

#3. The master bedroom has hardwood floors. No really it does! Granted they are hidden under clothes and shoes and towels. But they are there. What is even worse is in all that mess I still know where everything is. I have always had a messy room. I affectionately call it Controlled Chaos.

In so many ways I am just like my mother. So why is it that I didn't inherit her super woman cleaning/organization skills? It all seems so effortless for her. She always tells me "It is simple, just create a routine that works for you and stick, stick to it!" OH! It is just that easy huh? Then why do I struggle so much? Am I really this lazy and stubborn? Sooner or later I will have to grow up and fulfill my duties. I know that it isn't going to be easy and I am not going to enjoy it but no one is going to do it for me.

My name is Britt Johnson and I am a mess.

Sh*t or get off the pot

I have tried to stay on top of all the developmental milestones our son reaches. But when it comes to potty training Kai has been as stubborn as can be. He is 4 now and still refuses to even discuss trying to poop on the potty. At least he was up until a couple of days ago. I had taken him in for a well check and told the nurse that I was concerned about him not being potty trained yet. Just based on that she felt it was necessary to bring me a print out stating that he was potty resistant. The packet went on to say that this is due to parent error. That we had traumatized him. And that the only solution was to have one last conversation with him about where his potty and poop needs to go and never bring it up again. She had annoyed me from the moment I met her, with her nasally voice and ho hum attitude but now she had done pissed me off. I fought the urge to punch her in the throat and brought up my concerns with his doctor along with my dissatisfaction with the nurse. Now what happened next surprised me. First of all his doc seemed just as shocked as I was that the nurse would just automatically jump to that conclusion. Second of all she just sat down and asked Kai if he was afraid to poop and if it hurt. Now these are all questions I had asked him with no response. He looked at her and said yes! She felt his abdomen and told me that he has hard stool and that a powdered laxative in small doses daily will eliminate his fear and the pain (along with his ability to hold it in). She began to describe the consistency we were looking for which made me chuckle... and ruined soft tootsie rolls for me forever.

With a new found enthusiasm about the whole thing I decided to try something new. Kai HATES being naked for very long. So I decided that I would stop putting him in any kind of diaper, pull up, or underwear in an attempt to make the potty chair more appealing. Almost instantly we saw results. He gets up and runs to his potty chair when he has to pee and he has even pooped in it! I don't even have to say anything. We are finally on our way to a diaper free house! But..........The elation didn't even have time to sink in before a new problem arose. Gone are the days of fearing the potty chair and gone are the......... pants.





Ohhhhh yeah.... fun times!