The joys of fatherhood

Did I mention I'm a dad? I'm gonna talk about dad stuff for a bit, so if you're looking for literary business that'll be a later post.

It's a good thing to be a dad. I'm a lucky man, with a wife and daughter who love me. My daughter's three and three quarters right now. She's a tall, skinny thing for her age, who'll doubtless tower over me by the time she's fifteen.

She's also, as of this last week or so, potty-trained.

We didn't know how to do it at first. This is one of those things where it's a little different for everyone. We got a ton of conflicting advice, and tried various "soft" methods. Nothing really worked. Finally it came to a head when her preschool told us "Oh, by the way, if she's not potty-trained she can't attend."

Cue a three-week training montage. One week leading up to pre-school, then a quiet agreement with the school to go for more training.

If she'd missed it she would have been unable to attend until next year. But she's smart, and she made it.

We basically just put her in panties, rather than diapers, and took her to the bathroom every couple of hours until she got the idea. We gave scoldings for accidents, and positive encouragement for successes, and eventually it took.

Yeah, she made a mess a few times, and the laundry machine saw some overtime. But my girl came through.

I'm glad. She's very happy at pre-school, and she's socializing fast. Heck, she's actually upset to go home after it's done. I'm wondering how long that'll last, but it's cute while it's here.

So good on you Genevieve. Not sure when or if you'll read this entry, but know that your dad's proud of you.

Next step: Teaching her to read! Probably with something more kid-friendly than the Dire books.