Sometimes I wonder how much of Namine’s personality has been wrought by her time in the hospital. Remember that Namine has likely spent more time in the hospital than out in her life, even now at five years old. During that time, she’s had to learn to sit still for long periods out of necessity, to say nothing of how having caudal regression syndrome has affected her ability to move. Everyone derives their normalcy from the circumstances, so to us, her parents, this is normal. This is how things are — how they have always been. So to have another child in the apartment who moves much faster has been interesting.
In a general sense, it’s good for any child to have social interaction. To make friends, learn to share and cooperate — these are all good things. But there is also the more precise matter of peer pressure. You hear all the time about all kinds of negative peer pressure, but in this case, it was a good thing.
Namine was not enthusiastic about potty training. It wasn’t that she dreaded it or feared it, she just did not care. And given what urology had told us — namely, that Namine was in all likelihood incontinent and would always be so — we felt no great need to push her into it. But in observing that her friend rushed off to the potty every so often, Namine became interested in it for herself. She is the older child, and as such is the example (most of the time; she can be a pill sometimes, too). So Namine decided that she wanted to be potty trained, too. And she has worked hard to achieve that goal.
Namine is on — I think — her fourth day of being diaper-free with no accidents. She is quite proud of herself, as she should be. Jessica and I determined that we would give her the chance to declare for herself when she needed to go; we wouldn’t remind her. We’ve tried that in the past, and it’s backfired. But she deserves to try. She has earned that much.
A few times we’ve been nervous that too much time had gone by, that she surely had wet herself. Even today it was a solid two and a half hours before Namine told Jessica she needed to go. But to Jessica’s surprise, she was dry. This is truly progress, and proof that she might even make it through Frozen without having to go to the bathroom when we go see it tomorrow. If she doesn’t drink all my soda, that is.
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