2012: I AM STILL WINNING

I am going to go ahead and claim potty training success. We've had one accident since... I don't know, Tuesday? And we have had three... um, BOWEL MOVEMENTS in the last five days and two of them have gone directly into the toilet with very little intervention. There was one pooping-in-the-pants incident, but Lucy was with my parents at the time, at McDonald's, of all places, and I am going to call that a success rather than a failure because everyone knows taking a dump in your pants is way less traumatic than a newly-trained child sitting down on a fast food restaurant toilet that has an AUTOMATIC FLUSHER.

Anyway, since then its been smooth sailing. She's still a little overzealous at times (I took her out of Beauty and the Beast FOUR TIMES this afternoon so she could dribble into the toilet – it was never enough liquid to qualify as an actual evacuation) but I kind of prefer overzealous to the alternative. She delights in choosing her underwear each morning and is really REALLY not happy about the fact that we are still putting her in a diaper at night. (“Mom, I am not a baby anymore, I'm a big girl, and I don't WEAR diapers.” It's like she's actually been LISTENING to all the Big Girl talk I've been spewing for months.) But she's still wet every morning, so we're going to go ahead and risk emotional damage and future therapy and keep using them, at least until we finish the last pack I bought.

Do you know how GOOD it feels to get something that's been hanging over your head with a Pressing Need To Do status done in the first two weeks of the new year? It's like I am taking 2012 by STORM, you guys. 2012? Yeah, it's working for ME. I now have TWO children who use the toilet AND sleep through the night! Sure, they still drive me to the brink of insanity by whining all day and switching their snack choices at the last second and absolutely FALLING THE FRICK APART if a Lego truck loses a wheel, but in some very small ways, I AM WINNING.

I feel like I can make some actual GOALS for 2012 now that I don't have Potty Train the Girl Child hanging over my head, if I were a Goal-Oriented kind of person, which I am decidedly not. I mean, yes, there are a few specific things I'd like to do this year – run a couple of long-distance races (10 miles or more), strongly consider doing a sprint triathlon (and then possibly prepare for it if time alllows and/or I find a way to not be completely terrified of climbing onto a bike and riding it on ACTUAL STREETS, OMG, LIKE WITH TRAFFIC AND SUCH), and find a way to get down to Atlanta to see some friends. But most of my “goals” are kind of... loose, at best. I want to keep cooking and meal planning in the hopes that we are never caught on a weekend night with nothing to eat and a good reason to run out and spend $25 on takeout. I want to keep exercising, at least six times a week, because it keeps me mentally sane and helps me sleep.

But the biggest goal for 2012 falls into the CASH MONEY category and is, simply, be better with it. Save more, spend less, build up emergency funds and savings and make plans for college and just plain old be responsible with it. We are actually taking a Bible-based finance class through our church and I am really excited to see what will happen as a result of it. Last year was the Year of Excess – not that we bought six Ferraris or anything, but we traveled a lot (well, I did), we took two big family vacations, we REMODELED OUR KITCHEN. I don't even want to think about how many thousands of dollars we spent – I don't regret spending it; I know we'll get our money back from the remodel when we sell this house and our family vacations were fantastic, but it would be nice to see all that money we spent LAST year somehow materialize into our savings accounts at the end of this one.

That's really a family-oriented goal, so if I were to make one personal goal, in an area I'd like to see myself improve upon, I'd say I'd like to make myself more available in 2012. I want to say YES more: to playdates, to volunteer opportunities, to dinners with friends and to parties and gatherings and to more social stuff. I've always been limited by THE CHILDREN. It's not a bad thing, but I've spent the last five years coordinating naps and being there for bedtimes and my kids are now five and three. They don't use diapers, they sleep through the night, one of them is headed to REAL SCHOOL in the fall. I want to stop thinking as much about the “consequences” of disrupting our routine and see it more as expanding their worlds. So volunteering at the food pantry means skipping a possible nap and worrying about them misbehaving? It also means they'll be exposed to awesome things, like learning how to love and serve those who are less fortunate than we are. I am going to try to think like this more often and try to value experience more highly than routine. Oh don't get me wrong, WE LOVE ROUTINE, but we could use a little more shakeup around here. More yes.

Comments

[Jennie]

"value experience more highly than routine" -- I freaking love that. I shall quote you everywhere, be prepared.

[Life of a Doctor's Wife]

Yep, 2012 sounds like Your Year! I love your goals and I can't wait to read about how you are knocking ALL of them out of the park!

[Anne]

I feel like we live the same life. Our big goal for 2012 is to be financially responsible too! Also attending a money saving seminar at our church!! And also have the HUGE weight off my shoulders of getting my 3 year old potty trained!! It's like you are me, but funnier :)

[Megan]

Do you mind my asking if you're doing the Dave Ramsey total money makeover? I haven't taken the class, but I've read his stuff and I LOVE him.

Good luck, and yeah, 2012 is your year!

[HereWeGoAJen]

I got distracted at the Atlanta part and was unable to process anything else.

[Superfantastic]

Are you doing the VA Wine Country Half this year? I'm signed up, along with a couple of friends and Raj is wait-listed.

[Jen]

Automatic flushers: ruining potty training plans for mothers since... whatever year they were invented. GAH. Maggie STILL hates them.

[Hillary]

It's hard to shake off the idea of the All Important Routine, but I find that when I do my kids are much more resilient about it than I assumed they would be. (They're 4 and 2.)

[Leighann]

Ainsley once fought me for forever (ok probably only TEN MINUTES) to go pee in the airport bathroom on our way back from Mexico when she was three. It was an auto-flusher. I wouldn't have forced her except she semi-wet her pants on the plane after refusing to use that bathroom. I resorted to sitting on the toilet fully clothed (while trying not to think of all the germs getting on my clothes-yuck) and sat her on my lap. She was still crying and refusing. My MIL came in - she could hear the crying in the customs line - and started talking about all the swimming we did in Mexico. She turned the faucet on and Ains finally peed involuntarily. OHMYGOSH. The drama. She's now five and will pee on an auto flusher if I cover it with my hand.... which I gladly do.

[Erica Huff]

Oh, the spectre of Potty Train the Girl Child is haunting me so.

I really just want ONE of my children to sleep through the night ONCE a week. Come on 2012, let's do this!

[adequatemom]

What an awesome, AWESOME goal! More yes!! My goal a couple of years ago was to start saying yes to the right things (which also meant saying no to the wrong things) and wow, what a difference it made in how terrific my year was. I hope you and your family have the same experience!

On the cash money front - is the class you are taking at church to do with Dave Ramsey? I read his Total Money Makeover book last year (right after my husband lost his job), and I can't say enough about how it has changed our lives and our approach to money. Whatever it is you are doing, I applaud you! Rock on!