"I Help You, Mama"

I believe this is a universal truth: once you are a mom your view on privacy is never the same. Every mom has experienced someone assisting them as another person is produced from inside them, and a regular audience (see "produced person") while they use the restroom.

It was uneventful to have my daughter literally just standing and watching me pee while she's sucking her thumb and holding her beloved little blanket. Potty is not new to her. She was potty trained at 21 months thanks to my firm insistence that I not have two children in diapers. Well, turns out I made it more difficult on myself because a 21 month old, while using the potty with impressive ease, cannot go by herself. And if she is not in a diaper, there's an immediate need for you to stop what you're doing to take her potty - whether that's nursing a baby, cooking dinner, or using the bathroom yourself.

Thus, the last year has been peppered with memorable potty experiences as we find places to put her tiny heiny. (I highly recommend a foldable potty seat. We found one on Amazon and it's been a lifesaver!) Anyway, she still needs assistance going potty and has taken to holding our hands to avoid falling in when she is not using her potty seat, and I guess just for fun when she is.

While watching me, full attention while I "used the potty" yesterday, she said in the sweetest voice, "Here, Mama - help you, hold hand" and held both of my hands while I peed. When I was done she let go and gave me a big smile for my success. I found this incredibly sweet since we are often in the middle of a battle of wills. I didn't have the heart to tell her that, while she is usually at risk of a good toilet dunking, there is one other universal truth that happens in motherhood: your new hips mean you are never at risk of falling in the potty.