Potty-Training....CHECK!

WOO-HOO! This family can now officially scratch "diapers" off of our weekly grocery list. It has been quite a journey that has lasted about 4 months longer than I had hoped, but Hayden has now decided that he is ready to go potty like a big-boy, and noone is happier about this than Mommy! This was a little bit humbling for a child psychologist, who is supposed to have all the answers, right??! Well, we tried pretty much all the strategies.....scheduling, reasoning, bribery, positive reinforcement with candy, encouraging words.....you name it, we tried. And yet I seemed to be forgetting about the basic truth of potty training children: They'll do it on their own when they are ready. So simple. Yet we, as parents, sometimes have our own agendas, and we would rather have children do things in our time rather than in their own. Yes, there seems to be a deeper lesson here, one that I, too, need to be reminded of. All too often, we hurry our children to grow up because it will make our lives easier, or it will be more convenient for the family. Basically, Hayden decided overnight a couple of weeks ago that it was his time, and he hasn't looked back since. I haven't had to change a dirty diaper in over 2 weeks....Praise God! And he even stays entirely dry at night and runs to the bathroom all by himself, even without a reminder, immediately when he wakes up in the morning. He proudly displays the results of his efforts, usually telling us that we need to come and see "his work." The other night, Matt and I both got a huge laugh out of it when Hayden came running into the living room and said, "You want to see? I made the biggest poop in the world!!" He was so proud.....as we his Daddy, as we admired his efforts. So great job, my big boy Hayden, in making this big step toward becoming a big boy and in reminding Mommy to let you do things in your way, in your time, and to just trust the process. Now that he is potty trained, I will need to start preparing for his next major milestone, which will be his starting preschool in January.

Today's letter of thanks is being sent to my college roommate, Susan Livingston. Oh my, have Susie and I shared so many, many experiences together. Susie and I first met on our very first day of college, as we were assigned to be roommates. We pretty much hit it off from day one. Susie then ended up leaving college to transfer to EMU, and when I transferred to University of Michigan the following year, it only made sense that we would live together down in Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor. And so began a whole new round of adventures including living in the "college slums", surviving crazy housemates who we believed were Satan worshippers, befriending homeless men who lived on our porch, Saturday nights spent grocery shopping (which was basically the extent of our social life at that point), wars with unethical slum-lords. I was in Susie's wedding when she married Blue, and Susie (because she was expecting her first child) actually stepped out of my wedding party but served as my very special and honored personal assistant. Susie and I have gone through periods of being very close, but we have also gone through some pretty significant challenges in our friendship. Many of you know.....living together can be highly detrimental to a friendship. But, our friendship is one that has always withstood the challenge, and I believe that is because our friendship is based first and foremost on our common bond as sisters in Christ. I am very thankful for so many things about Susie.....I am thankful for her strong faith and convictions. She is so dedicated to her family and has even assumed the very important role of home-schooling her two beautiful children. Susie has sacrified a lot of her own professional aspirations to focus on the very critical task of mothering. I am thankful for the mutual love of music and harmony and worship that we share. Too, I am thankful for the difficult times that we have been through together, because they have deepened the connection that we have and made us more sensitive people. Sadly, Susie and I don't keep in touch as regularly as we should; but ours is one of those relationships that when we do connect via phone or in person, it is just like "picking up" where we left off. Ours is a friendship of the soul. Susie celebrated her 35th birthday this week on Monday, so this note of thanks comes in timely fashion to say I am thankful for my long-time sister in Christ, Susie.