Easter has passed, but a few chocolates he brought, and a lifelong lesson remain.
I remember when I was a child and got so excited at the thought of waking up to my basket full of goodies at the end of my bed. It was the one time of year that my parents deemed acceptable to have sweets for breakfast.
So I couldn’t wait to see the expression on Isla’s face when she woke up on Easter morning. Especially since she had been dreading the thought of the Easter Bunny visiting, since that mean old Santa guy stole her dummy at Christmas (I still have to remind Isla that Santa also brought her some presents and she is a very lucky girl).
Since Isla is only two and goes totally bonkers when she has too much sugar, I put in a request to the bunny that he (or she) didn’t bring her too much chocolate and instead also bring a couple of books to read. And boy did he deliver.
She was overwhelmed in the morning when she woke to find a trail of eggs in the yard, a big chocy egg and three books- one about her favourite Frozen characters, another about a Grumpy Bear and another funny ‘how to’ book about potty training. However, the silly bunny must have had a bit too drink when he was organising her things, because the potty training book was directed at boys!
Isla smiled and giggled as she looked at the pictures and I read out the educational book. One lesson was instructing the child to dress as a fireman and pull out his hose to stop the fire in the potty. Another lesson was to find a hill outside, carve out a path and, with the wee, create a flowing river. Another lesson was to act like a cowboy, find the holster and fire the weapon.
It was a cute book, but completely irrelevant to Isla. I thought she just enjoyed the entertainment side of things and wasn’t paying much attention to the lessons involved, until yesterday, when I asked her to go to the potty.
‘Okay mum,’ she said, before thrusting out her tips and putting her hands on her waist. ‘I’ll do it like this!’
I burst out in laughter and had to explain that girls don’t wee like that, only boys. She was confused and asked why, which is when I struggled to find the words for the female and male anatomy. I haven’t thought that far ahead yet- what do I call it? Do I say the real words or make stuff up? But before I made up my mind, she was sitting on the potty and doing her business like a girl.
I’ll leave the anatomy talk for the future- and I’ll let you know how I go!
-Lia Spencer-
