When my younger daughter was almost two and a half years old, my mom asked me how potty training was going with her. I told her it was going great. She was out of Pull-Ups during the day and only needed them at night.
My mom said, “You need to start training her at night. She’ll be three soon.”
I shrugged. “Meh. She’ll be fine.”
I was just excited not to be continually changing diapers or Pull-Ups, especially having done it for four and a half years straight. With my older daughter, I had obsessed with making sure she was potty trained “on time.” I was that annoying mom who asked the preschool teacher every day if my daughter tried going on the potty. Well, she turned out fine, so I had no real worries about my younger daughter still being in Pull-Ups at night. We’d get to it eventually. #SecondKidProblems
A Few Weeks Later…
Our bedtime routine is pretty much the same every night– bath, lotion, pajamas, prayers, hugs, and kisses. On this particular night, nothing crazy happened. We did our usual routine, said our goodnights, and went to bed.
Several hours later, a very shrill scream came from the other side of our house, scaring the junk out of me. My husband popped out of bed like a Pop-Tart coming out of a toaster and shuffled out of our room. I heard some commotion and thought that maybe our daughter woke from a night terror. As the screaming subsided, I relaxed back under the covers and thought, “Oh, what a good daddy. He’s probably rocking her to sleep right now, and all is right with the world.”
Ten minutes later, my husband returned. But he wasn’t alone. I felt a small, warm body cuddle up next to me.
“Mama,” My two-year-old said, almost accusingly.
“You porgot to put my puwups on!”
In case you need a toddler translator, she said that I forgot to put her Pull-Ups on.
“She woke up in a pool of pee. And she was saturated in it.” My husband mumbled as he crawled back in bed. “Don’t worry. I took the sheets off and gave her a quick sponge bath as best I could.”
Wait, what? I didn’t forget. Did I? How in the world did I forget to put her Pull-Ups on!? Seriously? I ran through the evening in my head. The girls took baths, and I put their lotions on. I put their pajamas on and sent them off to bed with prayers, hugs, and kisses. But, I couldn’t remember putting a Pull-Up on my toddler.
“Mama. I was all wet! The bed was wet!” she said. “Piggy got all wet too. You have to wash Piggy. I miss Piggy.”
I groaned. “I’m sorry, baby.” I kissed the top of my toddler’s head.
“Is okay. I have a puwup on now.” She snuggled close and promptly fell back to sleep.
The Next Morning…
In case you didn’t know, two-year-olds have a way to keep you humble. The next morning, my toddler was very quick to remind me that I had forgotten to put her Pull-Ups on the night before. Her older sister looked at me like I was crazy.
“You forgot her Pull-Ups?!” My four-year-old exclaimed as her eyes widened. “How come?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged.
“Mama, I woke up ALLLL WET! And Daddy came an’ changed me. An’ put my Puwup on!” My toddler declared. It was as though she was wearing a badge of honor proclaiming this to everyone at the breakfast table. Did she think this was a rite of passage?
Later that day, I found out that she indeed wore that badge of honor proudly at preschool. My husband texted me after he dropped her off:
The first thing she said to her teacher this morning was, “My mom forgot to put my Pull-Ups on, and I peed in my bed!”
Great . . . I’m the “Parent of the Year.” FOR SURE.
But what can you do at this point? Nothing but laugh. Oh, and wash the sheets, her soiled clothes, and her beloved Piggy. And of course, make a mental note to put the dang Pull-Up on my kid before bedtime.
In case you’re wondering, YES, I did put a Pull-Up on her that night. And the night after that. And the night after that. Funny enough, something magical happened. My toddler woke up with a dry Pull-Up every day following the “wet bed” incident. I thought that maybe we were just really lucky. But somehow, someway, my toddler’s “wetting the bed incident” caused her never to wet the bed again. Maybe it was her rite of passage after all.
PS: It’s been about five months since that incident. I think she’s forgiven me by now.
