My nephew is undergoing potty training. Right now, he's at the stage where if his mom reminds him on a regular basis to go to the bathroom, he doesn't have any accidents.

The amusing thing about potty training, to those of us who are not his parents, is that because *his* parents make such a big deal about him using the toilet like a 'big boy', he therefore thinks that the rest of us should be just as excited. We dutifully praise, of course - one doesn't do anything to jeopardize toilet training.

My younger sister and her 18-month old little girl are in from Seattle for the week, to help with wedding plans and also to visit. As opposed to the last time my nephew saw his cousin and was afraid of her because she crawled up to him and promptly poked him in the eye, this visit he finds her quite fascinating. She's tall for her age, and he's small for his, so they're nearly the same size - a fact which seems to puzzle him because even though she *looks* like she's just his age, she isn't the slightest bit interested when he tries to explain his make-believe games to her. Nevertheless, he adores her, following her around, or convincing her to follow him.

So bearing this in mind, my older sister (his mom) sent him off to use the toilet, and he did so, high clear voice jabbering that he needed help to turn on the light, but then his mommy was to 'go away please' so he could go in private Well, almost in private. Seconds later we heard from the bathroom down the hall his clear little voice calling for his little cousin to come and watch him go potty.

An entire room full of adults tried desperately not to laugh out loud while his mother, in an amazing feat of voice control, managed to keep it together long enough to explain to him that little boys and little girls don't get to go potty together before she, too, succumbed to the hilarity of the moment.

Poor little kid. He has no idea of the ammunition he's giving the rest of us. I'm thinking that in about 16 years, when he's nervous and pimply and has a girlfriend he's trying to impress, we might have to dig out the story of how he wanted his little cousin to come watch him pee. Heh heh heh...