Independence

This has been a very interesting past few weeks for me.  I have been working on potty-training Jared.  This started out as a source of much frustration as he refused to cooperate with me. Bribery, begging, numerous stories, I tried it all!  I vented to my sisters and grandparents, but had to accept the fact that I could not convince Jared that he wanted to learn this new skill.  I felt completely inadequate as a mother and started to feel like Jared would wear diapers to kindergarten!

However, after a week of letting him run around naked and figure it out on his own...we are having successes and it is all Jared's triumph!  Not mine.  I can ask him to go and he won't. He is so proud of himself when he goes to toilet.   It is a big lesson to me that I have to let Jared learn things on his own time table and not mine.  

Jared has always been an independent lad and has done things his own way like getting his own snacks, no matter how well I hide them.  He can open ANYTHING... ANYWHERE!   So though it is hard, I'm glad I have Jared to help me grow as a mother.  Learning to let go with him is helping me let go with the other kids and encourage them to make their own decisions!  It is hard for me to shelve my ambitions for them!   So thanks Jared!  'keep up the good work on learning your new skill!