OK, Morgan has come home 5 out of the last 8 school days with wet pants. Like, not just kind of wet....totally soaked. The first day, I mostly ignored it and chalked it up to an accident. The second and third days, I got more angry with her and punished her by sending her to her room when she got home for a good amount of time. The fourth through seventh days I started getting worried about other things. Could she have been assaulted? (experts always say that is a sign to watch for) Could she have a urinary tract infection? Could she be stressed about something else happening at school? Today, even though I wanted to yell at her, I calmly asked her to explain to me why she kept doing this. After much prodding, she finally admitted that she is afraid of the new self-flushing toilets they have installed at school. *sigh*
I called her teacher and asked her opinion on what we should do. She suggested that since there are only 3 days left, Morgan can go to the nurse's office to use the restroom because that restroom is still a manual flushing toilet. Since there are only 3 school days left I feel like maybe she can do something special for those 3 days and we'll work on the problem this summer. But on the other hand, should she really get special treatment for something that is really an irrational fear? Her teacher said her son was the exact same way and also had the same fear of fireworks that Morgan has. Its just a loud noise thing. So, I sat down to have a talk with Morgan....I told her that if there were more than just 3 days left, she wouldn't be getting special treatment but that for the next 3 days, she was to tell her teacher if she needed to use the restroom and her teacher would discreetly send her to the nurses office. I asked her what exactly about the self-flushing toilets scared her. From what I understand, it is just the loud noise that she is scared of. I explained to her the physics of how the self-flushing toilets work (the sensor senses when you stand up and then it flushes, this is good so people's poo doesn't sit in the toilet all day and smell up the bathroom, etc. etc.) She seemed to understand. I told her that this summer, we will come to school and practice so she can get used to the toilets so that this isn't a problem again next year. She didn't like that idea, but she needs to know this isn't something she can continue on with. I told her that its OK to be scared of things but it is never OK to go potty in your pants!
Anyone with any opinion want to weigh in here? Anything I should be doing differently? Anything I should say differently? I don't want to make a big deal out of it with her, but I also don't want everyone at the press conference seeing that she peed in her pants on her first day of work as the first female President of the United States because the toilets at the White House are self-flushing!!!!!.JPG)
I called her teacher and asked her opinion on what we should do. She suggested that since there are only 3 days left, Morgan can go to the nurse's office to use the restroom because that restroom is still a manual flushing toilet. Since there are only 3 school days left I feel like maybe she can do something special for those 3 days and we'll work on the problem this summer. But on the other hand, should she really get special treatment for something that is really an irrational fear? Her teacher said her son was the exact same way and also had the same fear of fireworks that Morgan has. Its just a loud noise thing. So, I sat down to have a talk with Morgan....I told her that if there were more than just 3 days left, she wouldn't be getting special treatment but that for the next 3 days, she was to tell her teacher if she needed to use the restroom and her teacher would discreetly send her to the nurses office. I asked her what exactly about the self-flushing toilets scared her. From what I understand, it is just the loud noise that she is scared of. I explained to her the physics of how the self-flushing toilets work (the sensor senses when you stand up and then it flushes, this is good so people's poo doesn't sit in the toilet all day and smell up the bathroom, etc. etc.) She seemed to understand. I told her that this summer, we will come to school and practice so she can get used to the toilets so that this isn't a problem again next year. She didn't like that idea, but she needs to know this isn't something she can continue on with. I told her that its OK to be scared of things but it is never OK to go potty in your pants!
Anyone with any opinion want to weigh in here? Anything I should be doing differently? Anything I should say differently? I don't want to make a big deal out of it with her, but I also don't want everyone at the press conference seeing that she peed in her pants on her first day of work as the first female President of the United States because the toilets at the White House are self-flushing!!!!!
1 comment:
I don't have anything to add. I think that you worked it out great. She will only get over it with exposure. However, you don't want to embarass her or demean her either. Your solution sounds like the most rational and productive one. It is what I would have suggested as well. I would continue to work on it over the summer and help her find a way to cope with it (plug her ears, buy her ear plugs to wear in the bathroom, give her something to think in her head to prepare herself). I thinkt hat you will most likely not be dealing with this next year. Hang in there! You are doing a great job mama!
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