Potty Training Side Effects

So Declan is now officially in the repeating stage. I whispered "damn it" a few feet from him the other day and for the next five minutes listened to "damn it" on repeat. He doesn't usually (and I say usually because this isn't the first bad word that my little angel has been exposed to) remember bad words much after the repeating time, but "stupid lady" has become a part of his vocabulary. I've heard that kids are mirrors and show us what we're really like. I'm becoming a supporter of this theory. Because, well, I say "stupid lady" a lot. But before Declan started repeating it, I would have vehemently denied ever saying that phrase. But my little mirror has shown me that I do in fact think lots of random ladies are stupid.

They say you learn something new every day. And in addition to repeating, Declan is coming up with his own ideas. Mostly they center around narrating everyday life, "we're going down a hill, mommy" or "Declan has milk in his stomach". But since we're potty training, some of it revolves around poop. Who am I kidding? We talk a lot about poop these days. And Declan has dropped some gems. I already talked about how he pooped on the couch, a highlight of my motherhood so far, but now he tells me he wants to poop all sorts of places: in his hand and in the yard are front runners.

My mom had two daughters. I remember her telling me with some disgust that one of my cousins had spread poop on the wall in his room when he was little. This could explain any trouble he ever got in. The poop was a sure sign that something was messed up there. And if this is the truth, I'm screwed! Declan will be a delinquent by 11! He had his own poop spreading incident a few months ago and now he's saying he wants to poop in his hand.

So maybe I shouldn't announce this on the internet. But why would I have a blog and not tell the truth? This world isn't just made up of picture perfect parents and children. Some parents have kids who use a pacifier until three, and some have kids who love to talk about all the places they'd love to poop.

Oh, and he decided to tell Rich and I the other day that "Daddy likes to poo poo in his underwear".

I try to be very firm and let Declan know that touching poop in any way is yucky and that poop belongs in a diaper or in the potty. But, when Declan dropped that Daddy bomb (which, for clarification, was completely out of nowhere) the floodgates opened and the tears started flowing. In fact, for the next week, whenever I thought about it, I'd break into giggles. Maybe Declan won't be a criminal, maybe he'll be a comdedian.