I Did Something Right.

I was a little surprised to see that my last entry was nearly 10 days ago.  It doesn't feel as if 10 days has passed.  We have been really busy.

We are still running.  The kids have a new thing where they like to put their arms up when we run "fast".  I use the word "fast" really loosely - our avg pace these days is over 8 minutes per mile.

We are also still peeing in the potty.  This takes up a lot of our day.

There have been some frustrating days (unrelated to potty training...although, finding a large poop next to the toilet doesn't particularly help.)  "They" say that the terrible twos are nothing compared to the terrible threes, and I may just have to agree.

Brenna, despite her speech delay, has perfected a few words.  Her most common word is - "no."

Here are some of our daily conversations.

"Brenna, eat your fruit."

"No."

"Brenna, put on your shoes."

"No."

"Brenna, come inside."

"No."

"Brenna, stop poking your brother's ear!"

"No."

She is not saying "no" simply because its a word that she can say.  She is saying "no" because she is acting like a brat princess.  Dealing with her can be daunting, toggling between wondering "am I being too hard on her?"  and "am I being too easy?"

Parenting is hard.  I willfully admit that I don't know what I am doing.  

But then the other night there was a moment - it was like someone turned on a bright flashlight in a dark cave. 

In the fog of all my doubt and insecurity was the shining revelation that *I* did something right.

For many, many years I have bought a huge bag of spinach at Costco every week.  It's a lot of spinach - but it's only $5.  And so for many many years, I have had a large spinach salad with my dinner.  I love spinach.   The kids have been eating spinach for many years too - I have always mixed their applesauce with spinach puree.  They have no idea that applesauce is not supposed to be green.

At dinner, I eat salad and they eat green apple sauce.

Lately, they have been interested in my salad.  Especially Brenna, which is funny because like any typical toddler, her vegetables have the tendency to end up on the floor.

But I decided to test them and made small salads on their dinner plates.

And to my delight, THEY ATE THEM.  THEY ATE RAW SPINACH AND THEY LIKED IT.

Laugh if you must, but fewer things could have made me prouder.

Hayden really only ate his salad out of default - there was nothing else left to eat.

I didn't get too excited right away though - toddlers change their mind just as much as they pee.  However, it seems to be fact - the kids like salad!!  

It may be a small deal to most, but when dealing with three year olds, you need to relish and rejoice ALL victories - it is a matter of survival.

Pools and Potties, Part 2

Potties.
Saturday was Day 1 of the Three Day Potty training method.  As expected, Hayden was resistant.  We followed the rules in the literature that David instructed me to read.  Unfortunately, I opened it up with good intent but got hung up on the 30 pairs of underwear mandated for each child.  Who has time to read when they are frantically shopping for 60 pairs of underwear?

I had some sticker shock over the price of underwear - but between Target, Walmart and Amazon, I was able to fulfill the underwear requirement without entirely draining the bank account.

The first step to the method is to have the kids carry out all the diapers and put them in the trash.  (Of course this is wasteful and just for show).  Then, you put them in their underwear and say, "Who wants juice??"

To them, juice was water that tasted like candy.
Their minds were blown.

They guzzled sippy cup after sippy cup like college kids on spring break.  Their little bellies grew like water balloons.

"Do you have to pee?" David would ask them.
"Do you have to pee?" I would ask them.
They would shake their head, extend their hand to pass us their empty sippy cup and demand,  "More juice."

They held their pee for an impressive amount of time, but what goes in must eventually come out.  And when massive amounts go in, massive amounts come out.  I will spare you the descriptive (and dramatic) details.

Sunday was Day 2.  It is always peaceful after a storm.

By Day 3, we were back to our normal routine, except always with a towel in tow.
We went to Costco:

We went running (it was too early for Hayden to be photogenic)

I took us to see the cow just in case we had to make a pit stop.  This road already smells like poop.

We also went to the mall:

So far, accidents have been few and at home. Of course, I am knocking on wood as I type this.


Pools.
I know, it's not a very fun topic.  My apologies in advance.
I started logging my workouts two weeks ago.  I will refer to this as the beginning of training.
Week 1 included three intervals workouts (in addition to Masters and endurance workouts):
Workout #1 was 250x4.  My fastest was 4:36.
Workout #2 was 200x5. My fastest was 3:40.
Workout #3 was 100s. My fastest was 1:42.

Week 3 I revisited these intervals with the following workout:
250 x 2 - 4:21 / 4:21
200 x 2 - 3:28 / 3:23
100 x 2 - 1:36 / 1:37
200 x 2 - 3:30 / 3:30

I am not really sure what those numbers mean in regards to swimming 1500 meters in open water.  BUT, I know that 4:21 is faster than 4:36, 3:23-3:30 is faster than 3:40 and 1:36 is faster than 1:42.   This may be a new road but I think its the right direction - so far.  I am still knocking on that wood.

Pools and Potties

I realize to my kids that pools and potties are one of the same, but despite that, they are two things of top priority as far as twins and triathlons are concerned.

The twins have shown about as much excitement towards potty training as I have towards swimming.  But, it's to the point where we no longer have choices, it's time to press forward.

We have dabbled with potty training in the past.
At first, the little potties were a novelty.  They sat on them.

After about a 5 minutes, the potties were forgotten.  They were moved into a corner and collected a disturbing amount of dust.

I re-introduced potty training again as we came closer to the third birthday.  Everyone kept saying that they were old enough to understand. 

We tried pull-ups.  The first thing Brenna did was pull hers down - she definitely understood that part.

Like the potties, there was a short-lived initial novelty.  They laid on the floor as if they were testing them.

A few minutes later it was determined that a pull-up was just another kind of diaper and they had no interest.

A few more months passed and I encouraged them with a rewards chart.

Brenna made some attempts:

Hayden has taken a more lackluster approach, as evidenced by his chart.

I totally get it, there are much better things to do than sit on a toilet - like play with cars, trains and dinosaurs.

I have always had better things to do than swim - like bike, run and run more.

But even though Hayden will vehemently disagree with me, its time for us to both to just suck it up and do it.

I started first by examining my barely-existent swimming schedule.

I decided to ease into this whole swimming thing by swimming 3 days a week.

Then I added a Masters class for a 4th day.

And then I added a 5th day although this is hard, since you know, I do have a job and stuff.

I have seen some results.  My 100s have gone down from 2 minutes to 1:37-1:42.  But, I cannot swim 15 at that pace without stopping.  This has made me realize that I have a long, long road ahead of me.

I am hoping the potty-training takes a much shorter (and drier) road.

We are using a technique called Three Day Potty Training. 

I will report back but I want to ensure you that I will not:  

  1. Post pictures of poop.

  2. Post pictures of pee.

  3. Provide any description of poop or pee.

I bought each child 30 pairs of underwear and we are beginning this process tomorrow morning.  

After I go to the pool.