She hears him practically running down the hallway and the bathroom door swings open and hits the wall. Even over the water of the shower, she can hear him fumbling with his belt.
“Honey, can you just get in the shower with Mommy? You can leave your pull-up on the floor for now. Just put it on top of you pants, okay?”
She reaches for the shampoo while he steps out of his pants and wet pull-up. When he pulls back the curtain to get in the shower she can tell that he’s feeling shy, thumb tracing his lips and eyes downcast.
“Come here. You get under the water while I leave my shampoo in, okay?” She picks up the soap and starts to rub it onto her hands. “Ohh…did you still need to pee more?”
He looks down at the stream steadily flowing onto the bathtub and down the drain. “Oh…maybe.”
‘Maybe’ is a little silly when both of them can see that he’s going.
“Can I get your armpits while we wait for you to finish? It was hot today and I know you got sweaty playing in the yard.”
He nods. Now his thumb is all the way in his mouth.
“Okay, are you all done?”
“Yes, Mommy.”
“Did you just get in the shower right away because I told you to?”
“Yeah…”
“You are soo good. But you know that you can finish in the potty if you need to, right?”
“I was just listening to Mommy.”
“Right. You were being good. But, like I said, just tell me if you need to go potty more, okay? It’s not a big deal this time because we’re in the shower. But remember when you went pee again after I told you to change into new pants?”
He nods.
“Can you tell me what happened? Turn around so I can get your butt.”
“I forgot I needed to go pee and I was doing the dishes. And then I couldn’t ignore it and it started to just come out when I was almost to the bathroom.”
“Did your pants get wet?”
“Umm…yeah.”
“Did you go potty in your pull-up while you were outside today?”
“Ummm…”
“Yes?”
“I was crouching down to look at a flower and maybe umm…”
“Maybe you went a little bit?” She turns him back around. “I think I should have been out there supervising you is what I’m hearing.”
“Yeah, maybe…”
“Okay, let me rinse my hair and then we’ll dry off.”
She turns off the water and he reaches out to get their towels.
“Do you need a little bit more protection than pull-ups?”
“I think mommies decide that, right, not babies?”
“That’s true. Here, can I get your back for you? You got your shirt wet when you dried off by yourself yesterday.”
He blushes and turns around. Then they step out onto the tile and he picks up his pull-up and pants.
“Do you know what to do with those?”
“Throw this part away…and put these in the laundry?”
“That’s right.”
“And then get my changing mat, right?”
“Uh-huh. And what else?”
“Umm…put it down in the bedroom and get wipes and…”
“And what? I think you know that Mommy knows what you should be wearing if you’re going to pee yourself.”
He pulls his towel over his face with the hand that isn’t holding his wet pull-up and pants. “A…a diaper.”
