Notes: Thanks to Mari and Sammy for their awesome feedback. And special thanks to Mari for bouncing ideas!
Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your continued support. It is always appreciated.
Hope you enjoy! I had fun writing this one :-)
A New Mission (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
"Okay, Angie, where does that triangle go?" Catherine asked, tapping the colorful bucket with differently shaped holes in the lid.
Angie was holding a green triangle-shaped block that would fit through the triangle-shaped hole outlined in green on the lid. She, Catherine, and Steve were sitting on the playroom floor enjoying time together after dinner while Cammie lounged nearby.
"Ah tah!" Angie said, banging the piece on the lid and grinning at the noise.
"Yep, that makes a nice sound," Steve said. "But which hole does it fit in?"
"Dada," Angie said, holding the triangle out to him.
"No, this is your toy," he said gently with an encouraging smile. "You try it."
"Dada!" she said more insistently, shaking the block at him.
He sighed. "Okay, I'll show you," he said. Taking the block in hand, he put it by the correct hole. "See, the hole is green, like the triangle. And it fits right in." He dropped the piece in and it made a satisfying clunk as it hit the bottom of the bucket.
Angie beamed, clapping. "Yay!"
Catherine laughed, imitating her daughter. "Yay! Daddy did it."
"Daddy did it," Steve echoed, chuckling.
"Dada!"
"Okay, which one next?" Catherine asked.
Angie searched the ground and came up with the square block.
"That's a square," Catherine said. She pointed to the lid again. "Can you find where it fits?"
"Mama," Angie said, now holding the block out to her.
"No, you do it," Catherine coaxed.
"No," Angie said, pressing the square toward her. "Mama bo mah."
As Catherine took the red square and showed her how it fit in the square hole, Steve glanced at her and asked, "You get the feeling we're being conned by a toddler here into doing all the work?"
Catherine laughed. "Filling the shape bucket today, painting a fence tomorrow?"
"Something like that." He grinned as Angie again clapped enthusiastically.
"Yay!"
"Yay," they both echoed.
"Okay, how about the circle?" Catherine said, motioning to the two remaining pieces on the floor. "Which one is the circle, Angie?"
The toddler looked down at the circle and the star, her hand hovering over each before picking up the blue circle.
"Yes!" Steve crowed, swooping down to kiss her head. "Thatta girl!" He looked over at Catherine. "Did you see that? She picked the circle."
"She did have a one in two chance," Catherine pointed out.
Steve shook his head. "She knew." He beamed. "Brilliant, just like her mother."
Catherine smiled indulgently at his insistence then turned her attention back to Angie. "Okay, baby girl, where does that circle go?"
"Ah be no mah," Angie said, trying to put the circle in the square hole.
"Not quite," Catherine encouraged. "Try again."
"Mama," Angie said, holding the block out to her.
"No, you can do it," Catherine said.
"You can do it, Angie," Steve repeated. "Try another hole."
Angie continued trying unsuccessfully to push the circle in the square hole. "Ba ee!" she screeched in frustration, inadvertently pushing the bucket over in her attempt. The lid clattered off, and she looked up at her parents. "Uh oh," she said, pointing to the upturned bucket.
" 'Uh oh' is right," Catherine said as Steve picked up the bucket and replaced the lid.
"Here you go, Angie, try again," he said, tapping it with his hand.
She reached over with her empty hand and imitated him with a tap of her own. Then she grabbed the lid by putting her fingers in two of the holes and lifted it up. She dropped the lid to the floor and used her other hand to put the circle block into the bucket before grabbing the remaining star block and doing the same with it.
"Yay!" she cried, clapping at her accomplishment.
Catherine and Steve stared for a moment before bursting out laughing.
"Well, that's one way to get the shapes in the bucket," Steve said.
"That was some Daddy-like problem-solving right there," Catherine said.
He shrugged. "Path of least resistance."
"Why unlock a door when you can knock it down?"
"Somethin' like that." He grinned at Angie who still looked very proud of her solution. He leaned over and gave her a kiss. "That's my girl."
Angie looked between her parents, smiling happily. "Mah be sho. Yay!" she said, clapping again.
As they clapped with her, she stopped suddenly, her small brow furrowing. She pushed herself up into a standing position. "Ah buh she nah," she said, walking toward the armchair in the corner where they often read books together and went behind it.
Steve's own brow knit as he watched her go. He looked back at Catherine, motioning with his head to where Angie had disappeared. "What's that about? We starting hide-and-seek early?"
"I don't think so," Catherine said.
"Then what–"
"I have a suspicion …" she said, her voice trailing off as she looked in Angie's direction.
A moment later they heard the toddler let out a familiar grunt.
Steve relaxed, leaning back on his hands. "Ahh." He nodded his chin at Catherine. "I think it's your turn for that particular diaper change."
She chuckled at that, then paused thoughtfully, cocking her head to one side. "You know, Esther said she did the same thing the other day. And Mom said she did it at the condo, too."
"You think it's a signal?" he asked.
"Could be," she said. "Definitely shows she knows her body."
He nodded, glancing back at the chair. "I know every kid is different, but she's in the range."
"Yeah," Catherine agreed.
Angie reappeared, now frowning. "Mama," she said, patting her diaper. "Bah, Mama. Bee mo nah."
"You want a diaper change, Angie?" Catherine asked as she stood. In response, Angie nodded, raising her arms to be picked up. "Okay, it's almost time to start getting ready for bed." She lifted Angie onto her hip. "Daddy can take Cammie out and meet us upstairs." She gave Angie a little tickle. " 'Cause I bet Cammie has to potty, too."
That night after Angie was asleep, Steve sat against the headboard in bed, thumbing through his much read, dog-eared, and highlighted book. Catherine came back into the room after taking Cammie out for a final potty trip and closed the door most of the way behind them.
"Being aware of bodily functions and not liking the feel of dirty diapers are definitely signs she might be ready for potty training," he said without preamble.
Catherine nodded, slipping off the light robe she'd thrown over her tank and boy shorts for the trip outside. She climbed into bed and grabbed her tablet from her nightstand. Navigating to a particular website, she held it out to Steve.
"Take a look at this. Lea sent it to me a while back. Said she used it with all of her kids … to differing degrees of success."
He set the book down on his own nightstand and took the proffered tablet. " 'Potty training in three days or less,' " he read. He looked up at her. "Is this for real?"
"Apparently." She nodded for him to read the rest.
He scanned the page. "This is like a whole plan," he said as he continued to scroll. "Things to do a month before the potty training weekend …" He nodded slowly as he read.
Catherine sat quietly, waiting for him to reach one particular part of the plan and knowing the instant he did. He reared back, practically hitting his head on the headboard.
"This isn't–" He stopped. "You're messin' with me. This isn't a real thing."
"It's very real," she insisted. "Tons of people have used it."
"Catherine, this–" He stopped again and she smiled.
"What?" she asked, wanting him to say it.
"This says she basically has to be naked for three months," he sputtered.
She pressed her lips together tightly to hold in her amusement.
"We're not doing that," he said firmly.
She rolled her eyes. "Steve …"
"Catherine."
She laughed, no longer able to keep it in, and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "You are very predictable, you know that?"
"I'm not predictable," he said, putting the tablet down. "Just because I don't want our daughter wandering around the house naked …"
"We're naked around the house quite a bit," she reminded him.
"That's … different," he countered.
"And it's not actually naked, just no diaper. To encourage her to use the potty."
"But what if she wants to stay naked after three months?"
"She probably would. Kids her age love to be naked."
He groaned, running both hands over his face.
"You know, according to Mom I used to run around naked all the time," she said. "Obviously, I grew out of it."
He glanced over at her and she sighed, smiling softly at him.
I'm not saying we have to do this method," she said, picking up the tablet and returning it to her nightstand. "Frankly, with your schedule in particular, I don't know that we can guarantee an uninterrupted three days which is what that one requires, but it wouldn't hurt to look at a bunch of different methods and pull out ideas we think will work for us. And most importantly, for Angie."
His somewhat pained expression smoothed and he nodded.
"You're right," he said. His lip quirked. "As always."
She shook her head with a little huff of laughter and shifted closer, sliding an arm across his torso as they slipped under the sheet together.
"So it looks like a new mission on the horizon," he said, his arm curled around her shoulders.
"Looks that way," she replied. "And we'll approach this one like we do everything else."
He nodded, knowing exactly what she was going to say.
"Together."
Hope you enjoyed!
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