To Squat or Not to Squat

Potty training with Sophia has not been fun.  She is two months shy of 3 and is pretty insistent that diapers work just fine for her. We have bought all of the special underwear, used stickers, chocolate, lollipops, anything we can think of to bribe her to walk to the bathroom and just sit on that toilet.  But she’s not having it.  Some may describe her as stubborn and independent, having decided she will take those diapers off when she is good and ready.  Her teachers tell me, “Just be patient.  She will do it on her own time.”  

  

Admittedly, part of me is getting a bit worried that she is going to be 5, wearing diapers and sucking her thumb.  But then another part of me is thankful, as I am fully aware of what is to come.

Yep, squat toilets.  And it isn’t the actual toilet that worries me, it is navigating it with a little girl that has little balance and coordination and a mommy that unfortunately is lacking the same traits. 

For those of you that have never experienced a squat toilet, let me tell you.  It requires leg strength, balance, and lots of luck.  The logistics are overwhelming really.  Where to put your coat so that it doesn’t dip into the toilet.  How to balance your purse on your lap while you dig through it looking for that one piece of Kleenex that is buried in there somewhere (yep, you guessed it, toilet paper is not supplied!) How far back do you stand so that you make it in, but don’t fall in.  And don’t even get me started on the sanitation concerns.  Let’s just say, it is complicated.

So, you can see why I am not looking forward to leaving the house in the midst of potty training.  Boys are easy.  They can walk in, do their business standing up, and walk out literally without touching a thing.  But girls…different story.

Now, I am left contemplating a few different things.  How bad is it really that Sophia may still wearing diapers at 5?  Do kids really need water to survive?  Or maybe I shouldn’t have judged all those Chinese moms who put their kids in split pants as babies and let them squat in the streets.  At least they are out of diapers by the age of 1 and they haven’t had to try to hover their 35 pound child over the hole in the floor. 

I guess we will just have to wait and see.