“_____, and _____, and UNDERPANTS!”
“Butt Butt!”
Two phrases Cydney could be found saying on a daily basis. This slow and daunting process of potty training has had some humorous moments along with its traumatizing times. Along the way, Cydney has become very interested in her posterior. At one point this summer, it was all she talked about. She talked about sitting on it, how it had superpowers, and anytime she would make number two not in the toilet, with pride she would ask me to show how disgusted I was in some form or fashion.
Me: Cydney you make stinky?
Cydney: *Puts hand on butt then smells fingers” Ummm no!
Me: Yes you did!
Sigmund Freud would say that Cydney is in the anal stage of Psychosexual Development. Meaning that potty training brings along a fascination with her anus and the control of this is the unconscious recognition of pleasure and manifestation of her libido. I agree a little bit. Like all of Freud’s theories: they make sense on a humanistic level but they cannot be proven. Potty training is the new hill to climb in maintaining a balance between id, ego, and superego. As a parent, I am demanding she uses the potty, she is trying to figure out how to control it (at this point she knows how to, she just opts to let it go when she wants to and seldom mentions when she has to go when it’s too late.
As a person who once studied psychology in detail, I do believe in Freudian theory because it makes a lot of sense. How one handles these stages of psychosexual development determines how one thinks and can become a permanent fixation. I want my daughter to be a nice blend of retentive and expulsive: meaning I want her the an organized rebel. Cydney’s going when she wants to go is a sign of being rebellious to the establishment (me) but she does demonstrate a need to have order and keep things clean. I think Cydney takes pleasure in me having to clean up her mess. The pleasure of me giving a reaction is hilarious. She’d much rather me respond in a way that she finds funny than the praise of actually using the potty. I don’t admonish her when she doesn’t make it to the toilet. No matter how bad it is, I don’t want to she actual disgust but show that it’s okay. Maybe that’s more or less a nod to how I was raised. My mother’s famous words were “That wasn’t right, but it was funny.” I have that same approach to parenting. I will let her know something she does isn’t acceptable but I demonstrate that said action was humorous. I think this approach lets Cydney know that I love her no matter what in spite of my disapproval. My finding such things funny instills confidence and somehow develops into becoming a different thinker. She recognizes what’s wrong, but she does something anyway for a laugh or will find a loophole to get what she wants all while suffering minimal consequences. Those are the people that become different thinkers.
Single Dadventures 