Pee Problems

Shane's had a number of accidents this week. It's strange, because he really hasn't had many before. Shane knows poops are rewarded, so he won't let those loose just anywhere. 

But pee?

I'm not really sure what to think. 

Each time it's happened, I've tried to be calm, but firm. Shane really doesn't seem to mind which, I admit, annoys me. If it's accidental, I know I really shouldn't be. 

I think the accident count is up to five

1) Church playground - I figured Shane didn't want to go home, so he didn't tell me. I told him that the church had potties, but wet pants weren't allowed on the playground. We went home.

2) Carrie and I's bedroom - This happened right after the playground incident; maybe an hour and a half later. The bathroom was 10-12 feet from where Shane stood. He braced his hands on the side of our bed and said something like "I pee my pants." I don't really remember. This time, I was frustrated/mad. I called out, "STOP! STOP!" but alas, he kept going and the pants soaked as I tried to push him to the toilet. I felt guilty about being mad later. I can have a forceful voice. 

3) Shane and I went to the library. We were in the kids section for all of 5 minutes when Shane braced himself on a toy and told me what was going to happen. Very calmly, I told him "Oh no! Now we have to go." I started my normal question line, "What do you do when you need to go to the bathroom?" Shane answered, "Tell someone," and then I showed him where the potties were in the library. Luckily, there were some spare clothes in the car. Shane got to ride home dry, but we didn't check anything out.

4) I believe there was an incident at Nana's house, too. I'm a bit foggy on the details.

5) Last night, Shane watched an episode on Carrie's lap. Suddenly, he was warm on her lap.

It's frustrating. I thought we were done with accidents and now they're back. I don't know what's the root of the issue. Does Shane get too into things and push back pottying until it's too late? Does Shane really not mind the warm sensation? Is there a medial issue? Or have Carrie and I been offering too many potty breaks? Could Shane have been relying on us to cue him instead of understanding the cues himself?

I post this not to embarrass my son years and years later. No, the goal is to be authentic. I want to highlight the positives in my life, but not ignore the challenges either. Parenting is definitely a challenge. It doesn't always go as planned and I'm not a super parent. I'd like to be (and I try to be), but challenges cue growth and meaningful memories. Maybe when Shane's older he will face a similar potty frustration with a kid and he'll be encouraged to know it happened to his daddy and mommy (whether he's babysitting them or has his own decades down the lines). Maybe this will cue potty training memories in people who read this (like myself, years down the line when I say, "It was easy! Oh wait..").

I will almost certainly need to stop posting so much about Shane when he's older. He won't remember most of this when he's older, but at some point he'll need room to run around, make mistakes, and not have it posted to the worldwide web. I'm not sure when that will be, but hopefully I'll stop before Shane ever says, "Please stop!"