March 29, 2004 - Monday
When Jeremy's mother walked in his room this morning (he's woken up very early the last two days and that's often a sign of heighten awareness or some learning breakthrough or milestone), his first words to her were, very politely, "me wear underpants today, please?" And, with that, he marched into the bathroom and used the toilet with aplomb as if he had been "holding it" for some time. His mother had no choice but to let him try the underpants.

Jeremy was in underpants for a brief period this past Saturday afternoon, too, having also asked to wear them then. His mother acquiesced then, too, but went outside to play. The good news is that he's clearly thinking about potty training. He's asked and been wearing pull-ups since last December, but it's not at all clear he's physically ready to "hold it" or make his way to the toilet. At first we were very supportive of the pull-ups, but more recently we've been trying to push back a little by putting him diapers if he doesn't even try to use the toilet or refuses our requests to try.

It's hard to know how long Jeremy lasted outside on Saturday before peeing in his pants because he never admitted to it. And, the same thing happened this morning, although at one point Jeremy jumped up and appeared to be running toward the bathroom. At the time I asked if he needed to pee and he said "no." In hindsight, I'm now fairly certainly that he did and stopped on his way, then denied it, because it was too late. Unfortunately, that wasn't obvious at the time and there was nothing visible on his pants. So, he ultimately got into his chair for breakfast and it wasn't until he was in the bathroom for teethbrushing and I asked if he wanted to try that he conceeded that he "already did pee."

This is different from Harry's venture into underpants because Harry was much older and more aware of his bodily functions. For Jeremy, conscious interest in being a "big boy" and perhaps being like his brother is ahead of his body. Both Saturday and today his mother and I put him in a diaper, rather than a pull-up, after his accident and on the surface that seems harsh and possibly demeaning. That was certainly my first reaction when his mother did it on Saturday. But, not telling us of his accidents seemed to imply that he just doesn't get it yet and maybe diapers are more appropriate, even if he doesn't like it. Of course, hindsight of his unsuccessful race toward the bathroom suggests that perhaps he was more aware of the trouble when it happened and had I noticed that at the time I probably would have been more likely to praise him for trying and given him a pull-up, maybe even new underwear. As it was, I tried to be very matter-of-fact with the message that if he wants to try to pee in the toilet he can keep trying underpants, but if he isn't, or doesn't know to tell us, then perhaps diapers are best.

I told Mary all about it when I dropped him off. She suggested maybe it was time to start briding him. It's probably a good idea.


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