It's been one hell of a week

Why?

1. Potty training
Potty training SUCKS. Don't let anyone tell you any different. All those parents that say that they didn't have any problems and all they had to do was to put their kid on the toilet and the kid took it all from there...are full of crap.

We've not left this house for 4 days so far and counting. I use a timer set to go off every 20 minutes. When the bell rings, it's time to go. Keira walks around commando and I have to pay attention and focus on her every move. I anticipate that every movement she makes means that she needs to go to the potty. If she even wiggles her hand I think that she's giving me a signal that she needs to go. I sweep her up, I run to the toilet and I plop her down on it. We sit and wait. And wait. And wait. Sometimes we're lucky (like this morning). Sometimes we're not. That's when you see me on all fours with Lysol spray cleaning and wiping up the floors.

Why is it that every time I get on the computer or I take a phone call, she suddenly lets go. Why is that when I am 100% focused on her, she can just hold her pee for hours? Why? Sigh.

My mother says it'll take one week. My sister says it's going to take two weeks. I've heard others that say that it takes months. Years. I'm not going to focus on that or I'll get depressed. Think good thoughts...yeah. Good thoughts. She will be potty trained by tomorrow. Ha Ha!


2. "All by myself"
My little one has fed herself dinner all by herself. What was the first meal? Chicken parmesan. She is so cute. She got it all in her mouth and enjoyed every last bit. Sigh. First it's potty training, then she can feed herself, next thing you know, she'll leave us to get married and have kids. How do they grow up so fast?


3. Laundry woes
In order to get things done, us moms usually have to wait until the kids are in bed to get some free time to ourselves or to do our chores. One of these chores, of course, is the laundry.

In Germany, the washer/ dryer is in the basement 3 1/2 flights down from the apartment. In order to do the wash during the day, I have to carry Keira down as well as the clothes. Back and forth. Back and forth. So obviously, I prefer to do the wash at night.

All this time, Per has told me that we are not allowed to do wash past 10pm in the apartment building because all the tenants will get mad because it makes so much noise. So, if Keira goes to bed around 8pm and I have to eat dinner, clean up and so on, it only leaves me an hour to do the wash. Basically, I get to wash, but I don't get to dry.

We leave Germany for good next Friday. I just found out today from one of the neighbors that I could do the wash all day and night long if I wanted to. She didn't understand where Per's comment came from.

I come home and I confront my husband. What does he say? He tells me that he made it up so that I wouldn't do the wash all night. Puh. Want to know how I feel about that one?!

4. Snowing like crazy
Nonstop. All week. It's cold. I thought that I'd be a good mother and take Keira outside for a little bit. I bundled her up like the Michelin man and took her out. She didn't like it. Not one bit. She just wanted to go back inside. Yes, a girl after my own heart. That's my baby.