Two-Year-Old State of Mind

Harper has taken a couple of steps backwards in the potty training department recently. Like, all of them. I attribute it to stress related to the soon-to-be arrival of a sibling. My plan is just to be patient and wait her out. It is unlikely, I rationalize, that she will go off to college in diapers (which is really the only reason one potty trains a kid anyway).

Then this evening I found her running around the living room buck-naked.

Me: “Harper, what happened yesterday when you ran around without a diaper on?”

Harper (avoiding looking me in the eye): “Ummm… I used the potty?”

Me: “No, you did not use the potty. There was an (prompting her)…”

Harper: “Accident.”

Me: “Yes. And where was the accident?”

Harper: “A carpet accident.”

Me: “That’s right; you had an accident on the carpet. So now you need to pick out a new diaper or go potty in the potty. You can choose. Which one would you like to do?”   

Harper: “Ummm… I would not like a diaper or the potty. I would like to run around naked.”

Me: “Yes, I can see that.”

Do you ever find yourself having a conversation you could never have envisioned prior to parenthood?