I need to give our four-year-old some credit. As maddening as her behavior has been much of the time since L. was born, she does have her moments of pleasantness. And, apparently, usefulness.
She may be potty-training C..
For a few weeks, any time M. was using the bathroom and, to put it delicately, required a few minutes to complete her work, she would call C. to come in and watch. After she made her “deposit,” she would show C., who would be fascinated by what she saw. This evolved into a new game. Each time M. needs to clear the bowels, she goes in, gets started, then starts yelling, “C.! Come here! I’m going poopy! Come watch!” C. would dutifully go running in and sit on the training potty on the floor and hang out while big sister was doing her work. Some times they would spend ten minutes in there, singing, telling stories, and laughing until M. was ready for an assist in finishing up.* We figured this couldn’t hurt anything, so were happy to let it continue.
(M.’s motives may not have been completely altruistic. Yesterday we heard her say to C. before she went into the bathroom, “Hey C.. Come in the bathroom with me and tell me some jokes.” I’d like to hear some of these jokes.)
C. has been sitting on the potty before bed each night for a couple weeks. She always says she has peed when she’s done, but the actual success rate is around 25%. Hey, at least she’s trying.
Then, one night last week, not only did she pee, but she pooped too. She was very proud of herself, got to wear big girl panties for awhile, and then wore pull-ups a couple times until she decided diapers are ok for the time being. We gave M. lots of credit for showing middle sister how things are done in the potty, and she was quite proud of herself as well.
Now, to complete the mission and get C. to use the toilet all the time so we can stop buying two sizes of diapers.