Learning To Use The Potty (private for Carrie96 and me)

[Carrie96]

Sharon got James out and carried him inside.

Anna was spraying sunscreen on Carter on the porch, so Sharon removed James's training pants, put a pair of regular underwear and his swimsuit on him, and sprayed him down with sunscreen.

Anna watched James so Sharon and Paul could change clothes. Sharon came back a few minutes later and took James's hand. "Let's go try to pee-pee before we get on the boat."


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[Omo90210]

"Nooooo, I don't gotta go!" James whined.

[Carrie96]

"We can stop and let them pee-pee off of the boat when they need to go," Anna assured Sharon.

That sounded better than fighting this battle with James, so Sharon agreed. "Okay, James, but you have to tell Mommy, Daddy, Miss Anna, or Mr. John when you need to go potty."


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[Omo90210]

James nodded absently and reached for Paul when he went to pick him up and carry him down to the dock.

[Carrie96]

Sharon realized that the boys had been quiet, and she was alarmed when she looked up and didn't see James. "John? Is James behind you? I don't see him."


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[Omo90210]

John had missed James slipping past him, but when he turned around, he recognized the problem immediately.

[Carrie96]

"Wha--oh, god. Grab James, Paul, he's about to pee." Sharon knew James's stages of desperation quite well by now, and the kid was about to lose it, no question.


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[Omo90210]

Paul sprang into action and flung open the door on the side of the boat, then gently guided James to the edge of the boat, trying not to cause him to have an accident from movement alone.

[Carrie96]

Sharon couldn't tell from where she was sitting, but she guessed that at least a little bit of clean-up was in order. She got the pack of wet wipes from James's bag and walked over to him and Paul.

"Honey, why didn't you tell Daddy or me you had to go potty?" She asked as she cleaned his legs up.


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[Omo90210]

"You were talking," James muttered.

[Carrie96]

Sharon brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Honey, that doesn't matter. You always have to tell one of us when you have to potty so you don't go in your pants. You can whisper it to us if you don't want to say it in front of someone, but you have to tell us as soon as you need to go."


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[Omo90210]

James nodded forlornly.

[Carrie96]

"Daddy and I aren't angry, darling. You've done really well with using the potty. You just have to learn to tell us when you have to go when we're not at home. We're stopping to swim in a few minutes, so you can rinse your swimsuit off then." There was a small wet spot on the front of James's swimsuit, but Sharon guessed that his underwear had to be pretty wet. She ran a few wet wipes along the path James had taken from his trying-to-hold-it crouch to the side of the boat, just in case any pee-pee had made its way to the floor.

"I'm sorry," she apologized to Anna once she'd sat back down. "I don't know if he peed on the floor at all, but I wiped up the area, just in case."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Please. My nephew is a couple of months older than James, and between him and Carter, this boat has seen more than its fair share of toddler waste. James can't hurt it."


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[Omo90210]

James went back to play with Carter, wiggling in his uncomfortable wet underwear.

[Carrie96]

"Carter, do you have to go potty while we're stopped?" Anna asked.


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[Omo90210]

Carter shook his head.

[Carrie96]

Anna raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? You haven't been in a while."


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[Omo90210]

"I don't hafta go!" Carter insisted.

[Carrie96]

"Okay, but we're not stopping again before we get to where we're going swimming, and you're going to be in trouble if you pee-pee in your pants," Anna warned.


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[Omo90210]

Carter shrugged and turned away from her.

[Carrie96]

"Is he doing any better?" Sharon asked Anna.

"Yes, he's doing much better. At home, anyway. He's never been too good when we're out. He doesn't want to go to the bathroom until it's nearly an emergency. He doesn't have too many accidents, but he has entirely too many close calls. We've recently started threatening to punish him if he wets his pants or we have to rush him to the bathroom too soon after he won't use the potty when we ask him to to prevent an emergency, like before we leave the house or when we're out and pass a bathroom," Anna answered.


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[Omo90210]

"Oh, god, don't tell us that," Paul spoke up.

[Carrie96]

"He probably will be," Anna replied. "He's a lot more eager to please than Carter is. Carter is just stubborn."


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[Omo90210]

As Carter and James continued to play, Carter began to fidget and squeeze his legs together.

[Carrie96]

When they stopped a few minutes later, Sharon and Anna got the boys off of the boat while Paul and John took care of the boat.


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