The Tao of poo

Yes I know it's not a very appetizing subject for a cuppa, especially for this first one, but poo is a big part of my life these days. Téo's poo in particular.

We're going through toilet training, and it's driving me a bit crazy. We bribed for pee ... lollies, Thomas books, other presents. It worked pretty well ... well, except for the time at his creche where he was asked if he wanted to go to the toilet and replied no, I already have enough Thomas books. After several months we're almost there - there's no more rewards and he only has an accident when we're out and I forget to make him go in time (which, sadly, is often enough).

But the poo. I am really losing my patience there. One of his cousins gave himself constipation by refusing to use the toilet, and I really wanted to avoid this. And guess what, I have! He's not constipated! Instead, he poos in his undies. Like clockwork, every second day. Only when he's with me. Always at inconvenient times.

Today he pooed at the park, just 5 minutes after I'd taken him to the toilet and asked if he needed to poo. Often it's while we are walking home from his creche. Once it was at a picnic. Another time at a birthday party.

It wouldn't even be so bad if he deposited nice solid logs. But instead they're mushy - at best. I'm a little tired of hosing him off and cleaning out his undies.

The thing is, he has done a poo in the toilet! It was two weeks ago, and he was so proud of himself. He got a heap of praise and rewards. Phew, I thought at the time, that's it then. We're nearly done with toilet training. But 14 days and 7 soiled pairs of undies later, clearly we're not. The last time, I even took away the tractor that was his reward and said he could have it back when he did another poo in the toilet. This morning he told me I'm going to do a poo in the toilet today. I pwomise mummy. Then I can have my tractor back. But no, he went in his undies.

I know I'm not the only person to go through this, and that he'll get there eventually. What I don't get is - how did our mothers get us toilet trained at 2? Why is our generation having so many problems? It can't be just the pull-ups and super-absorbent nappies - Téo is not wearing nappies anymore, except for sleeps. I even asked my mother and mother-in-law what they did, but got no useful advice.

So taking my inspiration from the Tao of Pooh, I'm trying to achieve the Tao of poo: accept that things are the way they are; appreciate, learn from, and work with whatever happens in everyday life; and from this way of living find happiness. Although, happiness is a bit beyond me ... I'll be content with just learning how to stop getting increasingly cranky.