The saga continues...

Just when it seemed the conditions were ideal for potty-training, something else came up. Tuesdays are always a little busy around here. In the morning a friend comes over and stays with the kids for a couple of hours so I can run errands. Today I got to the commissary for groceries, another grocery store for produce, and the dollar store for a few Spring items for the kids' baskets. (By the way, I had a stroke of genius on that one. We always have baskets laying around after the first of spring, and what do you do with them? Nothing, they just get in the way until you throw them away. So, I got Spring colored buckets and shovels instead of the traditional baskets. Now, they can be used later. I digress.) Mom went with me on all these errands, so when we were done, we ran home and Mom put up the perishable groceries while I fed Hyrum and got the older two kids ready for school. Once that was done, Mom, Hyrum and I loaded up for quick trip to Mt. Vernon. (When you live on an island, the shopping has to be done elsewhere.) We got through JoAnn's, Kohl's and most of Costco when I got a call from Paul's pre-school teacher. Paul was having major problems. He didn't want to participate in his usual activities and was grabbing at himself. So, they tried to take him to the bathroom. He went into hysterics and from that point on could not be consoled unless he was sitting on someone's lap. He was obviously in pain and had not urinated yet in the day (it was about 2pm.) So, since I was 45 minutes from home, Charlie went over and picked Paul up. On the way home, I called the doctor, who said, after several calls, that we could get Paul in at 3:30pm. We got home in time to pick Paul up and go straight to the doctor. We were told not to be surprised if we had a bit of a wait because they were squeezing us in where there wasn't really a spot, but we got in quicker than we ever have for a regularly scheduled appointment. I think in future I will have to pinch one of the kids so they scream with pain. That certainly seemed to work for Paul. They did a urine sample and couldn't find anything wrong, so they sent us home. Paul had a little bloating in his abdomen, so I am watching for vomiting or funny bowels, but otherwise we just call in the morning to see if the urine culture (I didn't even know they did those!) yielded any results. So, after consulting with John, we decided that we need to hold off on the potty training yet again. We decided that writhing in pain on the potty seat really wouldn't be conducive to successful potty training!