Potty Training

So I’m spending some of this week with some of my favorite people – my sister and her family, including my almost three year old niece, Tahlia.

Michelle’s apparently been working with Tahlia on potty training. It hasn’t quite taken yet, but the core concepts are clearly marinading away in that brain because potty talk occasionally finds it’s way, unprovoked, into play. Yesterday Michelle, Tahlia, and I were lying on the carpet pretending to sleep when Tahlia bolted upright…

Tahlia (alarmed. snatching up her Ariel doll from the carpet): “Oh! Ariel needs to go to potty!”
Lisa: “Quick then! Take her to the potty! When you need to go to the potty you need to find one quick!”
Tahlia snatches up the doll and races off towards the toilet.
Lisa (adding needless drama to an already fraught situation): “Quick!!!!”
Tahlia (from inside the bathroom): “Ahhhh!!!! OK!!! Aunty Lisa, you come too.”
Michelle has a sudden thought: “Don’t put Ariel IN the potty!!”
Tahlia: “I NOT put Ariel in potty.”

Then, just as I reach the door to the bathroom…

Tahlia: “Oops.”