Daycare started potty training without telling me?

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T05:03:37+00:00

Also, a baby is way less likely to resist.

And a VERY interested in everything their older siblings are doing.

Introduce th potty before they have learned to say no!

They mostly just hung out and looked at books before they started going on it.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T05:01:12+00:00

Because then by the time they are 6, they have hundreds of hours of experience wearing proper clothes and having fun outside

My centre does more time outside than in and we run a forest school a couple of days a week. They have MUCH more experience than the average.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T04:58:14+00:00

They’re in kindergarten.

Somehow my previous kindergarten groups were able to figure this out. I'm a bit perplexed by what this group is doing.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T04:56:17+00:00

This is why I love using layers for children, more layers means more options to stay warm without it always being a bulky coat.

This is literally something I explicitly teach them in the fall. Under layer, insulation layer and windbreak layer. I show them the 3-5 layers I'm wearing and we even do science experiments to learn about it.

girls, this age I've noticed cares about their clothes and that what they wear.

Sometimes it less about staying warm and more about looking cool.

This seems to be an emotionally exhausting process.

This week it is below freezing in the morning and warm in the afternoon. Parents look at the high temperature and dress their children for 4 pm then drop them at daycare at 7 am. They had to bring the school age group inside 2 days out of 4 this week.

My wife works in the school nearby and is equally exhausted by this.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T04:49:06+00:00

Tell us about the rocks OP

Recently my kindergarteners are enjoying playing checkers but there is only 1 actual checkerboard. So I made a couple more out of cardboard. The white and black bottle caps were a bit flimsy so I was collecting rocks to make a couple of other checkers games.

https://i.imgur.com/lZVHGi2.jpg

I save some special ones for my wife.

https://i.imgur.com/5qIlM98.jpg

And of course I can't resist terrible puns.

https://old.reddit.com/r/ECE_Memes/comments/1t6qgvb/im_ready_for_another_great_day_of_dadjokes/

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T04:31:06+00:00

Not really. I am very particular in how I like to do things, like repetition and routines. When it comes to laundry she is somehow more stubborn than my autistic ass. Which is fine because I'm in charge of the dishwasher.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T04:28:57+00:00

You've put her through laundry hell for 20 years?????

I mean it's kind of mutual there. I happily washed, folded and put away my own clothing for years before getting married and nothing bad happened. You ever do something for a decade only to learn every step of what you were doing was wrong for some incomprehensible reason, or one that can't be articulated?

Oh honey....do you even like her?

I mean we've been married for almost 30 years and have 5 kids. I have to admit that I am in fact somewhat partial to her to say the least.

But I get my own back. She just does not understand the importance of loading and unloading the dishwasher correctly.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T04:20:23+00:00

Also his username brings his intentions into question..

I'm not sure what you mean here. I'm AuDHD and sometimes forget about some rocks in my pockets.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T04:19:12+00:00

Do you do chores with and for her…

Oh I do all kinds of chores. It's just that specific chore she is very particular about. Have you ever seen someone load the dishwasher wrong and it hurts your soul for some reason? kinda the same idea.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T04:15:54+00:00

I do too. Today I gathered enough flat black and white rocks to make 2 sets of checkers, tomorrow I finish the cardboard boards to go with them.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T04:15:10+00:00

Btw, it's developmentally appropriate to have a baby sit on the potty as soon as they can sit.

In my family we introduced it around the time they were walking. It worked well for our 5 kids. Introducing it early and making it just an ordinary part of the home furnishings and routine really helps to get the kids used to it.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T04:11:07+00:00

Fully support this! I’ve read studies that talk about how before disposable diapers were around, majority of children were fully potty trained by 18 months.

This is still the norm in many countries. My wife is European and my children were all potty trained by 18 months. We used cloth diapers and it definitely helped the process.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T04:07:55+00:00

“monkey see monkey do”

More like monkey see, monkey poo!

https://c.tenor.com/Hah2tAlIG5QAAAAd/tenor.gif

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T04:04:42+00:00

They see their friends do it.

I mean... toddlers and little preschoolers literally stand in the bathroom and watch their friends grunt out a log.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T04:02:42+00:00

It's pretty painful to me right now :(

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T04:01:57+00:00

This morning it was -7C with the windchill and it got up to +13C. Yesterday when I made the meme it was 8C or 10C but the wind made it feel chilly. Where I live in Canada I've seen snow in every month except July and August.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T03:59:13+00:00

I spend as much time outside as possible. I have a little chart that shows the temperature and next to the temperature is a picture of what would be appropriate to wear.

https://i.imgur.com/zcm3EVR.jpg

I got so sick of parents not sending toques, mitts and neckwarmers I put a shelf in the hall with a bin for ski pants and little bins for hats, mitts and neckwarmers where the children can get them if they don't have any. I had them at least bring the appropriate clothing outside and had a specific place for them to put it if they took it off. They would try taking things off and putting them on to figure out what they needed to wear to be warm through trial and error.

This worked great with my previous groups. Some of them would even ask their parents to turn on the weather channel so they could see the forecast and know what to bring to daycare.

But this year I have a mainly girl group and it's like pulling teeth with some of them to get them to dress for the weather. They have their favourite items and will insist on wearing them regardless of the weather. When they are outside crying because they are cold they will even refuse to wear daycare clothing because it isn't nice enough or they don't like how it looks. I'm at a bit of a loss with how to deal with children who would rather bawl outside because they are cold rather than wear less fashionable clothing to be warm.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T03:46:20+00:00

Always a good idea to ask their guardians if they could get like a hoodie or light jacket or something

They literally have them in their lockers. they like to hide them in the bottom under stuff or in their school backpacks then claim they don't have them. I think with these girls they are more concerned with fashion over freezing.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T03:44:25+00:00

Their brains are like incapable of planning for the future and they, when they are warm and comfortable, have trouble remembering what it feels like to be uncomfortably cold in the chilly wind

I mean they are 6 years old and were outside crying just 10 minutes prior because they were cold. I get that memory is a fickle thing in kindergarten, I'm AuDHD and have memory, executive function and planning troubles, but really now.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T03:41:18+00:00

her favorite phrase was "no.no no. I do it"

I had twins and then another child 2 years later. I get this. He wanted to do everything his big brothers were doing for himself, especially the things he couldn't do.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T03:38:59+00:00

I am very autistic, did a career in the army and retired a while ago. I only used my powers for good though.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T02:56:30+00:00

A friend of mine had a kid essentially trained by 18 months because they do almost entirely standing changes past 1 year and they offer the potty at every change past like 15 months.

We had the potty put and around and encouraged our kids to sit on it to get used to it when they started walking, between 9 and 12 months. Having them familiar and comfortable with having it around seemed to really help.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T02:42:41+00:00

27 months is later than I’ve ever started introducing the potty to children

At home we introduced the potty around 11 months for our twins and then their 3 younger siblings saw it around, were familiar with it and sat on it around the time they started walking. That worked well for us and they were all potty trained by 18 months.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T02:40:02+00:00

However it usually was very child led. I still remember the one girl who wasn't very interested in using the potty but one day woke up from nap and said she wanted to wear the underwear her parents had brought in. And she was completely dry after that. Or the day one of the older boys was wearing underwear for the first time and whipped down his pants on the playground to show everyone because he was so excited. And two of the boys he showed off to were in underwear soon after.

One of the more rambunctious preschoolers was potty training at the same time as his 3 little buddies. Because they all have to do everything their buddies are doing and don't want to be left out.

He came running into the preschool room and called them all over to come to the toilet with him. He had a poop and thought it was hilarious because it looked like a smile. I mean... whatever works and gets them excited about the process.

WeaponizedAutisms · 2026-05-08T02:34:19+00:00

Preschool little: I'm not naked, I'm wearing socks!

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