First day of school

Tobes started his new school yesterday and he did really well. We drove into Blackheath and I sat in a coffee shop and read my book, which was really nice, just in case they needed me to go back if Tobes got upset. Ha ha ha. He was fine and didn't want to leave at the end of the day.

He's been dry for about three days now but still no poos in the potty or toilet. I'm going to back off about this for a week or so and then we can discuss it again. He has so much going on in his little life. I don't want to add unecessary pressure. He usually poops before we've changed his nighttime nappy so it's not a problem yet.

One thing that did happen yesterday is that I broke one of my parenting rules and let Toby wee outside. Actually in the car park. It's not unusual to see parents allowing their children to wee against a curb or in the gutter here, both boys and girls. I once saw a lady on a busy shopping street hold her daughter's legs apart over a grate so that she could wee into it. Not really something I feel totally comfortable with but now that I have a potty-training child of my own I do have greater sympathy.

So yesterday we were in the car, pulling out of the carpark for the twenty minute drive home when Toby announced with some urgency that he needed to wee. I could've tried to run into one of the restaurants but that would've taken time and I wasn't sure that Tobes would make it. The carpark was a tiny one, tucked down an alley in Blackheath and no one was around so... there were a few more dead ants in that carpark when we left than when we arrived.

Not the first time I've broken one of my rules and probably not the last. In fact, when I think about it my whole approach to parenting seems to be breaking rules that I've set for myself.

For example:

The baby will have nothing but breast milk for the first four months. At least. - Tobes had his first taste of formula when he was less than 48 hours old and one of the nurses at the hospital recommended a 'supplementary' bottle. I jumped on that bottle like a duck on a junebug. Breastfeeding was totally out the window within three weeks.

The baby will sleep in a crib in our room for the first six months and then in a room of his own. - Tobes slept exclusively in our bed for almost two years and still ends up in bed with us by the early hours most mornings.

The baby will eat nothing but homemade organic purees. - I think I made three purees for Tobes and he hated all of them. His diet consisted of jars almost from the beginning but, in my defense, most of them were organic.

The baby will not have sugar until he is at least a year old. - We shared an ice lolly when Tobes was about six months old and there's been no looking back.

Oh well, as long as Tobes is fairly clean, well-fed, well-rested and most of all, well-loved I guess all the rest is just the details.