September 30, 2004 - Thursday
Jeremy had another couple of accidents today at school, prompting a call from the school suggesting he wear pull-ups to school. I must concede that I was not pleased at the suggestion. I made a real effort this summer to make sure they knew how well, or not, he was doing with potty training. It seemed agreed that, under those circumstances, he would be OK at a school that did not have changing facilities for toddlers or infants and generally only accepts children who are essentially potty-trained. Compared to this summer I think Jeremy's done very well in nearly four weeks at school, even though he's had three days of messy accidents at school. The problem with reverting to pull-ups, of course, is that getting into underpants has been a major goal of Jeremy's for several months and has been tied, for better or worse, to his going to school and, more imporantly, feeling like he is a "big boy." My entire objective with talking so much about his progress this summer, as well as starting him just half days for the first week, was to not set him up for a major disappointment or any feeling of failure. Awkwardly, Jeremy is not very forthcoming about telling the teachers he needs to use the bathroom, nor after the fact when he's had an accident. It's understandable that the school may be frustrated because Jeremy's accidents have been messier and on two days, today and last Thursday, come in bunches. But still, Jeremy's progress should have been clear before he started. My sense is that I would rather take Jeremy out of school and go back to Mary's than make him wear pull-ups again. He would certainly not like it either and probably would view it as a major failure, at least that's what I would fear.


Comments, Opinions?