It's only a phase......

My sister in law Robin has brought comfort to me with the phrase "its just a phase" this applies to anything that drives you batty that your children do. They will eventually grow out of it. Sleeping through the night, sucking on their thumb, pull-ups, saying a phrase that you dislike, eventually the phase will pass and you look back with gratitude over the change.

Three weeks ago we potty trained Parkin. I woke up on a Monday morning done with buying diapers and thinking that we would soon have an infant to buy diapers for. We used the three day potty trainng method that my friend Alison introduced us to when we potty trained Holman. The first day it was so exciting for him to get a few chocolate chips for his good work. Drop by drop he recieved his reward. The next day our excitment alone was reward for him. I marveled that on day four he would quietly go into the bathroom and do his buisness without any cheering or assistance. We are talking about not just peeing, the real fun stuff no parent wants to have happen in his underwear, he succesfully emptied it in the toilet. Love this phase!!! (Potty training to me is a huge dichotomy, on one hand it is so fustrating! But when it is done effectiviely and their little face lights up because they get it and they know you are so pleased with them it melts my heart).

Sadly like bad phases that stop, good ones do to, why does it have to work both ways?!! A week later I found myself cleaning underwear and mourning the loss of "quietly doing his business phase." Isn't it the same way with adults? We develop good habits, get excited over our accomplishments and then suddenly you realize that you aren't doing it anymore and your good phase has turned into a slacker phase. I guess I can't expect anything different from little people.

Knowing that everything is a phase makes me want to truly bask in those good phases, I would name some of them right now but I fear by typing it or saying it outloud means that that phase will soon turn. So I will take my mental note of the phases that I am enjoying in my children s lives and my own and take a snapshot to remember knowing all good things change and luckily all bad things do as well.

Side note, Parkin has again taken to putting his yucky in the potty only he doesn't quietly do it, he wants me there, fine by me. That is a phase I will gladly appreciate, given thee alternative :)