GUEST BLOG - Our Greatest Challenge

(GUARINO-BLOG IS ALL ABOUT THE COMMUNITY, ALL ABOUT THE VILLAGE. AND, IN THAT SPIRIT, WE'VE EXTENDED THE OFFER TO MRS. GUARINO-BLOG TO JOIN IN FROM TIME-TO-TIME. TONIGHT, SHE TAKES US UP ON IT ... OH, BOY, DOES SHE TAKE US UP ON IT. ENJOY. I DID.)

From the moment our first son was born, everything we did was a learning experience. Changing diapers, making bottles, learning to survive on 2 hour stretches of sleep, how to hold a baby, diaper bag and several bags of groceries at once, and so on.

We have managed to master – or at least look like we've mastered - each step along the way…. Until now.

Potty training, without question, is the toughest one yet.

Owen is a smart kid, there's no doubt about that. He knows his letters and numbers, he can sing tell you what just about any animal says, he likes to "read" (translation: he likes to sit with books and tell stories based on the pictures, which is pretty cute), he can climb virtually everything and knows the names of far more dinosaurs than I do. But he has yet to figure out what we mean when we say "time to go potty."

He sits there. He swings his legs. He talks about Buzz Lightyear. He asks me to tell him a story. He asks me to read him a story. He plays with the toilet paper. He plays with whatever is in reach.

But peeing? Not a drop. And Number 2? Please.

That is, until we pull up his brand new Buzz Lightyear or Thomas the Tank Engine underwear.

To be fair, we just started this process in earnest this weekend. We bought the tiny little Tighty-Whities (and they're damn cute), we committed to regular trips to the potty throughout the weekend and we readied for multiple loads of laundry. But after a weekend of accidents and not a successful trip to the potty, we're a little mystified.

How do you teach a 3 year old who has spent his entire life peeing at will how to pee on command? How do you teach him what it feels like when he has to go? It's one thing to show him how to stir cookie dough or how to put on his pajamas but how to do you teach him to control his bodily functions?

I'm sure in a few months we'll look back on this and have a good laugh. Until then, we're going to be doing mountains of laundry.