My parents are here in Tampa visiting from Michigan, so
naturally, they want to go to the beach.
I personally HATE the beach-I know, I’m crazy, or more accurately, I
burn pretty much EVERY time I’m outside (yes, even with SPF 80!) and there are
certain parts of the human body that weren’t designed for sand, yet, every time
I go to the beach those seem to be the first parts the sand gets lodged in!
Anyway, despite my feelings about the beach, I loaded everyone in the car and
headed for the nearest waterfront oasis.
The weather was perfect a perfect 85 and sunny. We unloaded our stuff and took off for
some fun in the water. The girls
were having a great time, Natalie was performing some musical selections,
pretending to be Ariel-life was good.
About 5 minutes later Natalie came running out of the water
to explain that she had to go potty.
Since it’s the off season right now, the bathrooms are under
construction. This leaves one
obvious, but not ideal option-go in the water.
Before I suggested this, I verified she only had to pee (can
you imagine me telling her to go potty in the water otherwise-YIKES!). Then I said to her, “Well, you can just
go potty in the water”.
Natalie is my princess: prim, proper, and prissy. So as I was explaining the idea of
going potty in the water to her, she was cringing in disbelief, and utter
disgust. She then says to me, “Um,
No, Mommy, that is SO gross-we do NOT pee in the water!”
I totally understand the mixed message I’m sending here, but
she’s been potty trained for a while, and lets be honest, you got to do what
you got to do. Then I have a
moment of what I thought was a moment of mothering genius. I tell Natalie, “Well, you know Ariel
pees in the water!” (Yes, now that I’m saying it out loud, it doesn’t sound as
awesome as it did in my head!)
She replies,
“No, mermaids do NOT pee in the water, they are beautiful and perfect and
peeing in the water is gross, and they don’t do gross things, so they can’t pee
in the water!” I have to say, for a 4 year old, the logic is quite sound! I
realize there is no convincing her that peeing in the water would ever be an
option, so I tell her just to hold it.
Unlike some of my previous stories (when she just HAD to
go), she says, “Ok!” and goes back to play in the water. A while later we headed home and
as we use the potty, Natalie says, “Mommy, where does Ariel go potty?” I,
again, explained that she must go potty in the water, but that just can’t be
right. She has now decided that
when we see Ariel at Disney World in a few weeks, she’s going to ask….so to my
friend, Ariel, who we will see in a few weeks, I’m sorry, but secretly DYING to
hear what the real answer to our potty dilemma could possibly be!
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