Cornershot

This is a very important time in my 2-year-old pal’s life.

The adults around him are trying to convince him that he really, truly would like to use the potty. So we sing potty songs, read potty books, watch potty videos, play with anatomically correct dolls, strew potties in his path like land mines and talk it up so much that he’s getting bored.

I bought him a potty for my house. It’s green and shaped like a frog, though the receptacle is bright orange, and I seem to remember somewhere in the back of my mind a visit to the science museum during which the guide showed us some orange frogs that were poisonous and said we couldn’t touch them, so maybe the kid instinctively knows not to put his tush on one.

Anyway, when I showed him the potty, he regarded it politely, then picked it up and carried it into my office, which is about as far away from the parts of the house he hangs out in as it can get.

My guess is he’s not planning to use it anytime soon. Meanwhile, I’ve got the biggest and most colorful paper clip holder in town.

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