My buddy Marco

A couple months before we left Buffalo I gave a whole box of diapers away. We were done with them in this household. Marcus hadn't wet his pants in weeks. Even at night he consistently woke me up to take him. My 25 month old was the easiest, youngest, best trained kid out of 5.  For 3 months. 

Then we started loading the moving van. From moving day on -all through the vacation in Washington, trip across the country and back, and our first 6 weeks here he literally refused to go. I know this is normal to have these kind of upsets revert potty trained children but I couldn't believe how long this went on. I've also had tons of people tell me that summer time is the time to potty train your boys because they just stop and pee whenever they feel the need in the great outdoors. Whatever! I firmly believe that there isn't much a parent can do to push a kid to do this. I think the best advice is to stay positive. So Marcus took a big summer break. It wasn't easy staying positive through it all. But. .   

He is now 31 months old and potty trained. . .  again. I haven't had to tell him to go in five days.  I don't know what snapped inside of him.  I'm not giving away the large box of pull ups I bought yet but I thinking he has finally stopped punishing me for taking him away from his Buffalo potty. 

Heck, the kid SLEPT in a bathroom in Buffalo. (A large closet hooked to my bathroom). It was a tough thing to leave that closet and convenient potty behind.  The totally crazy thing was that all DAY this summer I had him wear pull ups. But at the end of the day, off came the pull-up and on came the undies for bed.  He wets all day, but has yet to pee his bed.  No matter how much he drinks he just has amazing control. When he wants to obviously.  He is totally backward, wouldn't you say.  I am not complaining. .  really.  I'm glad he's not a bedwetter. But, I'm just saying. . the kid is weird.

He is always taking off on his own outside since the kids when back to school.  He never bothers with shoes. He thinks our back sliding glass door  is his personal entry. He really is the only one who uses it so I guess it is. Whenever I unload him from the car he tells me, "Mom, you go your way,  and I'll go mine". 

I have let him explore the yard on his own because so far he stays in the perimeter, but I worry the whole time and check on him every 5 minutes. It's pretty easy to do a quick check. He is well trained. I holler a "Marco" out the door and back comes a"Polo".  The other day I followed the "Polo" and found him completely covered in black. Especially all the way up one arm. I asked him where he had gotten so dirty. He told me "from the hole in your car." I wasn't smart enough to figure that out on my own, so he led me out to the van's muffler. "See Mom, there's a hole". 

Gee that looks like tons of fun, Marco.

Besides the constant wandering of the premises, Marcus is a great buddy for me while all the others are away. First off he is an excellent shopper. This is unheard of for a boy, right? For some reason I have found it way easier to shopping train him then potty train him.  He will browse Target with me for H O U R S. Then we hit the thrift store. . for another hour and the kid is still rearing to go. Back in the car, he always asks where we are heading next then offers suggestions, "Should we go to TJ Max, Mom?" One reason he is so easily entertained in the shopping cart is because of his singing habit. He has only made it through 20 or so songs in Target and has way more in his repertoire for the next stop. One of his standbys is always at the check out when the checker tells us goodbye. "Have a good day" He immediately starts singing the American Idol song to them. "I had a bad day!"  He doesn't watch American Idol but he has sisters and they teach him way more than nursery rhymes.

Secondly,  he loves my shopping snacks. He's the only one of my kids that refers to carrots as dessert just like he was taught, and will snack on raw almonds all day with me. He also doesn't have the normal phobia's my other children do of green where they aren't expecting it. The other day he wanted PB and J for lunch. I only had a loaf of store bought white bread and felt horrible about giving him that. I decided to try an experiment.


I spread the Peanut Butter on one side, jam on the other. Then I sprinkled side A with Wheat Bran and scattered side B with 6 baby spinach. The peanut butter stuck them all nicely together.

Lunch was served while I looked on. Marcus ate an entire half without comment. Then he picked up the other half and said, "Mom, why did you put salad in my sandwich?" "Because I knew that you loved salad, Marcus." "Oh, Thank you, Mom!"

I suggest you not try this on any kid over the age of 3. Gotta start'em young. . .  and even then somehow that hasn't worked out for some of us sisters.


While my little sister Alainna was visiting I found out he's way more stubborn than I ever imagined. Right after Alainna's visit with the dentist she was having lunch with us and was sitting next to Marcus. He was swinging his fork around a little getting more and more crazy, while Alainna was complaining a bit about how hard it was to chew with a numb lip. Suddenly he wound up right then swung hard left piercing Alainna right above her lip quite forcely. We all sat there stunned, especially Marcus. Alainna was numb and thus wasn't even sure if she was hurt or not.  She rushed to the mirror and found she was bleeding where she had been stuck. 

Marcus sat there not sure what to do.  So I told him. It was an accident but he needed to tell Aunt Alainna that he was sorry. He refused.  And the more I tried to convince the more upset he got. Finally he was placed in a timeout chair and told that he could get up when he was ready to say two little words to his aunt. 

He sat there for 20 minutes refusing and often screaming out, "I didn't do ANYTHING!" I was determined to teach him this lesson and stopped by often during the time to remind him that I know he didn't mean to do it, but he still needed to say sorry. Just two little words. Finally I convinced him he could whisper the words and that is what finally worked but man it was pretty funny to hear him so determined at 2.5.


I have been so lucky to enjoy several years of just one kid at home. Caroline had a couple years and now Marcus is having a turn. It really is fun to have a buddy. I need to think about a replacement for that because eventually he will leave me too. I can't imagine life without my buddy.