Tips from the Toddler Trenches

So we're still working on the potty-training thing. Claire is doing great, really. Though everytime I say that aloud we have a small setback. Here is one of the most important things that I learned:

1. When you go to buy your toddler underwear, buy as many as you could possibly ever need at the same time, and make sure that they all look alike. Because if you don't? You probably won't ever be able to find the same ones again.

Let's review. I bought Claire some Dora underwear, hoping it would get her excited about the possibility of wearing "big-girl" underwear. It didn't. I bought 9 pairs, thinking that would be plenty. When she finally started wearing underwear she liked the Dora ones, so score one for mom. Then I realized that I needed to keep two extra pairs at school, and one in the diaper bag, so we needed more. I went back to Target, but lo, they did not have the same Dora underwear. They had ones with a new design. I thought, "cool, variety." Claire thought, "cool, I can make Mommy's life more difficult." And thus began the many mornings of, "not these Dora ones, want the Dora ice cream ones," and other similar comments. Joy.

And then we started having trouble with not pooping on the potty. Which meant more accidents, which meant we were going through more underwear every day. So I decided we needed another package of underwear. I went to my usual Target, and they had no Dora underwear. I momentarily contemplated buying some Curious George ones, since Claire currently loves George, but I thought better of it.

Then I made another mistake. Today Claire was at Target with me. We'd just picked out her new bathing suit (Dora). Then I decided to check this particular store for Dora underwear. And Claire saw all the variety that there was in the world of big-girl underwear. They had Dora ones, but in another even newer design. Did she want the new Dora ones? No. She wanted George. Fortunately, she'd picked up a pair of size 4T which are too big for her. So I could honestly tell her that the George ones wouldn't fit, but that we would get them when she was bigger. We did buy a package of Dora ones, which made her quite upset. The whole way to the registers she told me that she felt "bigger" now. Then in the car on the way home, she discovered she had Dora underwear. Which matched her Dora bathing suit! And her Dora shoes! And her Dora book! And her Dora placemat! "It matches!" And life was good.

For the moment.