Poop Doesn't Discriminate
In the past 2 weeks, I have come to the conclusion that poop does not discriminate. But what does that mean exactly? Long story short? Poop in a diaper, in a potty, on the floor, or where ever else my toddler may think up to poop during this potty training process does not care if I just got my nails done, or if they are beautifully manicured.
Let me explain! For the longest time I would go bi-weekly to get my nails done. It was something I enjoyed to do for myself, and my husband wouldn’t complain because he always benefited from the back scratches. As the boys got older, and Ben hit a year old, I figured they are old enough now where I am not worried about accidentally scratching them, or having some kind of nail incident. So a month ago I made the trip to my local nail salon that I was a regular at for years before the boys, waited my turn, and sat down for my manicure. I treated myself, and it felt awesome. On the way home I stopped, got a Shaken Passion Tea Lemonade from Starbucks, and to the house I went.
I made it a couple days without denting, dinging, or chipping a nail. Even to date I think I have only banged up one nail a couple times. I have done awesome keeping them looking like a super star. Then came my biggest challenge. Toddler poop. When Camden goes poop in his diaper, it is one hell of a time changing him. He squirms, flails, and tries to roll away in the crib, or where ever else I am changing him. It never fails. Just as I go to attack his butt and wipe him off, he moves. 9 times out of 10 landing a finger right in toddler crap. Really??? Come on!
Last week while I was getting my nails done, I was sitting at the station talking to the lady painting my nails bright blue for me, and the kids came up. My mother always is talking about them at the same salon, so when I go in they of course are the topic of conversation. The poop incidents came up. All the girls laughed at me, and most of them, the ones who you could tell were in the mom boat just like me laughed and totally could relate. The younger girls, who clearly didn’t have any kids of their own seemed beyond grossed out. Newsflash ladies! One day that poopy manicure will be right there on those hands of yours!
I think that frustrates me the most about the poopy manicure is we had Camden fully potty trained in a week back in January. After that week it was almost like he looked at us, laughed and said it was only a preview and totally regressed. I am not surprised as he was barely 2 years old and they say the average age for boys is 3. He seems to be coming around more and more, but he doesn’t seem to be interested in actually pooping in the potty. I don’t feel bad as I know some others who have gone through identical situations in potty training.
In the mean time, moral of my story today? Poop doesn’t discriminate. It will ruin your manicure, it will attack your unpainted finger nails, newly painted finger nails, any kind of fingers or finger nails. It does not discriminate based on manicure status. It will get anyone, any age, any nail style.
Oh the joys of children, and potty training!
Danielle Elwood is the author of Momotics and the mother of two boys three and under. She is a New England native who is a passionate advocate in the parenting community, and best known for her writing in the Pregnancy, and Childbirth community.
