What goes in must come out

It never fails. Whenever I settle in for a nap of my own when the kids are supposed to be taking their naps, or I've sat down for dinner, or I'm in the shower actually shaving my legs, I hear a loud and resounding "I gotta Poop!" coming from Aidan's mouth. He can get himself on the potty to do his business. It's just the whole wiping thing that tricks him out...although he assures me he will wipe his own bottom when he is 4. I smile in relief and tell him to enjoy it while he can because he only has 2 more months to use me as his Lady Charmin! So anyway, you are probably wondering why in the world I write about this. Well, I am glad you are. I've been thinking about this whole poop thing and I've realized something. Early motherhood is all about the poop: where, when, how much, and what does it look like? It begins when you're pregnant and you can't poop. And when you finally do (thanks to the 5 glasses of Metamucil), you call your doctor in hysterics because you are convinced you just had your baby. (Oh, come on ladies! You know this happened to you!) Then, your wonderful bundle of joy arrives into this world and you see poop come out of this precious child that is, quite frankly, rather disturbing. You think maybe you should call Mulder and Scully to come and investigate, but thankfully the nurses and doctors say this is normal and healthy and to let them know when the poop changes in color and texture. So you get a notebook, a poop journal so to speak, and proceed to record how many times a day your baby poops, what color it is, and what it smells like- it is green and seedy? does it look like French's mustard? does it smell like buttermilk? All these, of course, are signs that your baby is healthy if you are nursing that wonderful ball of love. If you give formula, I have no clue what the healthy poop looks like. As your baby gets older, you still worry about the poop but in a different aspect. At this stage you still examine the poop and pooping frequency to make sure your baby is ok. You can always tell if your child has had beans, raisins, or corn at the babysitters for lunch. Your conversation with the pediatrician is still roughly the same- how often does your child poop? The colors of concern change, though. Is it white, black or red? If so, there's a problem. This is when you start to worry over when the child poops- will he poop in his white Easter outfit? will he have a blow-out diaper right during the baby dedication? will he have diarrhea when you are at Walmart and have nothing in your diaper bag but Goldfish crackers? Then comes the time when you focus on where the child poops, the goal being that the poop lands in a potty of some sort and not in a diaper, pull-up, underwear, or on your new summer outfit. Finally, about the time this precious child has learned to poop in a potty and wipe his own bottom, another stage of motherhood comes knocking on your door. (As soon as I open that door, I'll let you know what it is!)
I've had some fun writing about this but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much you can tell about the physical health of a child by looking at what comes out of their bodies. If you feed them good things, their body works right and you can see it. If there's a problem, you can also look at what comes out to tell. As I thought about this, something hit me- This is true of their emotional well-being also. If you feed your child a steady diet of love, attention, and encouragement, it can be seen in their outward behavior. If you don't, there will be problems that will eventually come out in the child. What a strong reminder for me that what you put into your child will come out!