Parenting revisited.

April 15, East Prairie.

Nicolas' toilet training is an uphill struggle; I think he's not ready yet. A couple of weeks ago, when he turned three, I started letting him go around without diapers and all I got for my efforts was a succession of acrid puddles on the floor. Dylan was toilet trained effortlessly and in no time at two and a half, so this has been another lesson in parenting. All kids are different and each has his or her own rhythm; Nicolas started talking a lot earlier and is much more articulate than Dylan.
I keep forgetting to make a note of the latest development in my child rearing even though it was a major milestone in my family's domestic bliss status index: Nicolas left his pacifier behind without so much as a cry, the week before the season started. The tototte, as it is called in our household, was pushed back to only bed time, and then one night I couldn't find it and told him so and he went to sleep quietly anyway. The next night I pretended it was lost again, and the same scene enfolded, and in a few days there was no mention of the magic piece of plastic that I contemplated with increasing dread as the hour of its obligatory downfall approached (turning three was my deadline.)
Parenting uberlesson: never take anything for granted, one way or another.