Monday, February 1, 2010

Naturally, He's a Whiz Kid

It was one of those rare Saturday mornings when Mom was away from the home, leaving Lukas and Daddy alone for some male bonding time. Since it WAS still morning, the boy and I opted to pass on cracking open PBR's in the garage while listening to heavy metal riffs, and reminiscing about past glory days. Perhaps another time (Er...yes, at least 20 years hence Mommy).

Instead our plan was to attend a scheduled, and paid-for, morning Daddy and Me soccer class. However, being a one car family now, and with neither of us getting our act together enough to get out the door in time to catch the bus which would get us to the event on time, we had to settle for a hastily devised Plan B.

This plan, which I must say was brilliantly conceived, had me, in essence, killing two birds with just one stone. I decided we would have a Backyard Adventure! And in this adventure I would have my 2 1/2 year old little guy 'help' me as I checked a few Honey Do's off of my standing list.

This plan, to my surprise, worked out amazingly well! Lukas was thrilled to grab his shovel and dig up rose bushes, dig out the sand box, and shovel dirty bark into the yard waste container. We kept at it for nearly two hours, all on a soggy Seattle Saturday morning. Several puddles were also tested for splashability. He even crawled into the near full wheel barrow to examine how it was packing down since we needed room for additional sand.

As you may have surmised from the previous paragraph, it was not too long before Lukas was a mucky mess of a child. There were no worries though, as he was definitely having a blast helping out daddy with all the chores. Has anyone caught on the the delimma I was destined to face at some point during these 2 hours in the back yard? Has anyone? Bueller?

At about the one and a half hour mark when Lukas indicated that he had to go potty. Unfortunately by this time he was already a dirty, soggy little mess and I really didn't feel like tracking that inside the house.

It was then that I realized that since it was, as I mentioned, a male bonding morning, it was the perfect opportunity for Lukas to be introduced to a distinctly male rite of passage. His first nature whiz!

I told him we were going to pee outside and pulled down his pants. "That's silly!" He exclaimed and he giggled wildly. "We are going to pee outside like the birds?" "Yes buddy, you are. It's o.k. once in a while."

"Just don't mention it to Mommy when she comes back."

So still sporting a big smile, he watered the grass. And with that Lukas took another step, albeit a small one, towards becoming a man. And oddly enough, I felt another small surge of pride.

24 comments:

Being us... said...

I haven't started potty training yet, but other mothers have told me the best way to potty train a boy is to do it "au naturale" outside....so potty training will be beginning with us this spring!

ericdbolton said...

I'll be able to only use that excuse once. Since the other 3 children are girls.

Mrs. M said...

I bet he is going to want to do it all the time now! :)

Kevin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kevin said...

Awesome! Love it!

SciFi Dad said...

sniff

This was beautiful.

Sybil Runs Things said...

My children--make that my *daughters* LOVE to pee outside. Weird kids.

Anonymous said...

Now your boy Time to share a beer...just make his a "root."

Anonymous said...

Sweet! The priceless moments of fatherhood.

Anonymous said...

Whoo hoo!!!!! Go Lukas. I have peed in every yard I have owned or lived in.

Playstead said...

Now that is a day you will never forget. Good stuff.

Lady Mama said...

Aw. This was funny and heart warming all at once!

Ed said...

That was just beautiful, man!

(Word of warning--make sure he learns it is not acceptable to drop trou at family bbq's, standing on the side of the deck aiming at the cat and yelling, "Come back here, you chicken!!" I'm just saying, it could happen.)

Otter Thomas said...

I can't wait until my little man can be my sidekick on all outdoor adventures. Way to break him in right with the outdoor urination. Peeing like the birds.

Martin said...

haha, the swelling pride!

OneZenMom said...

How cute is that? :)

Steve said...

Now THAT is some quality Father & Son time.

A Free Man said...

A muddy child is a happy child. And teaching him how to pee au naturale is one of your key jobs as a dad.

James (SeattleDad) said...

@Being Us - We should be pros by Spring

@Eric - Thats a lot of trips inside

@Teri - yes, about 15 min later.

@Trips - Thanks.

@Scifi - It's ok for a dude to cry. Let it out man.

@Mamamilkers - Go girls

@MTAE - Too much sugar at this age

@PJ - It is a dads duty

@DC - Yeah, me too.

@Playsted - Good times

@Lady Mama - That is a nice comment. Thanks.

@Ed - Says a man with experience I take it. Funny.

@Otter - Only the male birds...I think.

@Xbox - I easily made proud.

@Zen Mom - Pee = cute that's the 'golden rule'.

@Steve - Best time with him in quite a while.

@A Free Man - I'm checking that one off my list. Suppose I should make a list first though.

Anonymous said...

Congrats to Lukas for taking another step towards becoming a man!

My wife hates that I can pee where ever I want.

Jack Steiner said...

That is very cool. My son still remembers his first. It was in a bush at the Legoland parking lot.

Why they don't have more bathrooms there I'll never know. But that is a story for a different day.

Dad Stuff said...

After our son's first time peeing outside at a campsite, he continued the practice at home. Sometimes going out of his way to leave the house to pee.

If I Could Escape . . . said...

Such a proud moment for you!

DGB said...

Awesome.

Just be careful with the "don't tell Mommy" stuff, cause before you know it he'll tell her, "Daddy says I'm not supposed to tell you..." and then you're up shit's creek.