Since she started showing signs of shame around pooping earlier this year, Kaia has not pooped at school. Back then, she was still in diapers, but she would still wait until she got home to poop. Then we went through potty training in August. She mastered peeing in the potty right away, but poop was a struggle initially. After several weeks of hiccups, she finally started getting comfortable with “letting go.” She pooped easily in her small potty at home. But it took some coaxing for her to poop in hotels. She would never poop at school. Every time we asked, the teachers always said she’d only pee in the potty at school. We kept hoping, though. Chris even said that when she finally pooped at school (in the potty, NOT in her pants!), he’d get her a pair of shoes with lights, which she’d been asking for since she started at this school in September.

Then came the last day of school for Kaia this year on December 6. At pickup, I got a quick debrief of her day from the admin. And before we left, she stopped me and said, “Oh, wait! I almost forgot! Something amazing happened today, Mommy! KAIA POOPED IN THE POTTY!”

She reported to me that Kaia had simply told them she wanted to go to the potty. She hopped on top of the toilet, took her little dump, and then declared she was “All done!” And the teacher was shocked to see she had pooped.

My baby is most definitely growing up. Her bowel movements are getting more comfortable everywhere, including school! She doesn’t just poop at home and at fancy hotels anymore!