Jul 9, 2008

With Children There Is No Off Season.

Last night I was watching a re-run of “ Bones” (one of my favorite shows) and the main character made a reference to mothers, saying she didn’t know how they did it. I don’t remember the exact words but it was something to the effect of “ at least with dogs you train them for a few weeks and your done, with children you spend a large chunk of your lifetime doing it.”

I had never thought about it quite like that before… mothers always being in training mode. For the last few months I have been attempting to toilet train my son. We have had a lot of starts and stops and I admit sometimes I have become very frustrated.

Partly because somewhere in my mind I think that once we get past this hurdle, the “training” will be over.

Before I had my son I was a veterinary technician for 20 years. I’ve trained a few dogs and cats in my day. Most of the time successfully, cats in a matter of minutes usually and dogs in a week or two. They get it and they are done. Training over.

That word… “ Training”… I think is why I’m having trouble dealing with my son. I have no problem with the concept of teaching my child well into adulthood, but training should have an end point in my mind. Of course I know he will stop fighting me at some point, want to wear underpants and use the toilet like a grown up and because we home school it’s not that much of an issue (except with everyone else who keeps asking me about it).

I think if I take the word training out of the equation, I’ll be more at peace with the process. After all, Bones was right, we never really stop training/teaching/guiding our children through life.

6 comments:

Crystal said...

I must have crazy dogs because I've had them for years and I'm still training them. LOL!

Good luck with potty training. I'm not yet a mom (soon, I hope) but that's one mom thing I'm really not looking forward to.

Anonymous said...

With three kids (24, 22, 17)my first thought was "yeah, training isn't quite the right word". So then I considered guidance and support and several others. But the truth is at 24 I am still training. Things that somehow just don't get covered in childhood. I am just glad that rather than jump off with a reaction they still ask my opinion first.

Anonymous said...

I think my mom is still training me in many ways... passing on her years of wisdom. A mother's work is truly never done! As for your son, don't fret the potty-training. It will happen before you know it. Good luck homeschooling. I did it for 3 years and absolutely loved it!

Rosebud Collection said...

I never enjoyed the toilet training thing..As far as people saying things..pay no mind to them..One of my daughters got a dinosaur potty for her son, it finally worked..I know, it sounds crazy, but it was the cutest potty I had ever seen..

Ashley said...

This is exactly why I'm perfectly fine not being a mom yet. I can train my horses, I can train my dogs.... but I really fail when the nieces and nephews come over. Maybe in a few years I'll be ready :)

Holly said...

You're right -- it doesn't end! I have some brothers who are still living at home! ;)

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