Murphy's Law

Murphy's law is an adage in Western culture that broadly states: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

I am learning (the hard way, because it seems the only way I know how to learn) that Murphy's Law is especially true in parenthood. Or maybe in the case of parenthood it could be reworded to be "A child can and will make any bad situation exponentially worse."

I know I've written about potty training before. But with Zoey finally making the switch from diapers to big girl underwear it really feels like I'm experiencing all the joys of potty training for the very first time again.

And so tonight I bring you Murphy's Law of potty training.

~The earlier to decided to begin potty training the more likely your child is to be the last person in their nursery class to be potty trained.

~If your wishful thinking entices you to buy underwear in size 2T your child will outgrow them before they have a need for them.

~The later your own child potty trains the more likely you are to be in play group with THAT MOM whose child does everything SO EARLY.

~Should you be desperate enough to check out potty training DVD's from the library (or worse yet, shell out real money for them) you will find that the more annoying the song the more likely it is to get stuck in your head. And yet, have exactly zero effect on your child's desire to use the potty.

~The newer your carpet the more likely your child will pee on it. Okay, who am I kidding. Your child will pee on the old, ugly carpet, too.

~Your child will ALWAYS wait until the last possible second to tell you they have to go to the bathroom. Which is usually when you have filled your shopping cart to the brim, have been waiting in line for 10 minutes to pay and you are next up.

~And they will ALWAYS have to go at the location with the dirtiest bathroom.

~The length of the line at the restroom will be in direct correlation to how frantically your child is crying "I gotta go! I gotta go!"

~Or worse yet, the restroom will be closed for cleaning.

~When playing outside your child will never pee their pants while standing on the grass. They will always, instead, be sitting in the sandbox.

Anyway you slice it parenting is not for the faint of heart!