Potty Training and Independence

A light clicked in my head a few weeks ago while I was potty training Suma. She likes to do things on her own! So I told her, 'Sumy, when you need the bathroom, go inside by yourself, take off your pants/underwear, and sit on the toilet.' And Sumy liked that idea.
Yesterday, she didn't even mention anything to me, I just saw her looking uncomfortable for a few minutes, going and coming, and then I heard her 'peeing.' She went into the dark bathroom on her own and undressed and sat, didn't even need to tell me. :) She's done it before, and each time, I'm so proud of her! :) It's so cute, Allah yihfath-ha.
So, maybe in the path to being potty-trained, we need to teach kids to do it on their own, and they'll make less mistakes! Obvious, but I'm stating it nonetheless. :)

Water Play

I started writing this a while back and got busy with my husband's visit. So here's a quick reflection.

I'm reading this book that has been giving me the simplest yet most brilliant ideas for entertaining my toddlers. Basically, kids like to do so many things, and the only reason we stop them is because it's an inconvenience to us-changing their wet clothes, bathing them, whatever. But what is a wet t-shirt, a wet bathroom floor, some spilled dry beans on a carpet? Five minutes of extra cleaning on my part and hours! of entertainment for her!
So the other day, I opened the bathroom door, pulled up a step to the sink, filled it with water and bubbles and gave my 2 1/2 year old a couple of measuring cups. She was in there for at least 1 1/2 hours, and fully enjoying herself. Brilliant! Let her play with water! She enjoys it, and all I do is change her afterwards and wipe the floor.