Domestic Notes & One Other Thing
We spent the last three days housebreaking the baby, and I probably don’t have to tell you Melissa hates it when I call it that. So we’ve been potty training — which doesn’t exactly mix with blogging.
OK, it doesn’t mix with anything.
Tiring work, too, although I couldn’t tell you why. Although it might have something to do with spending half your day, three days running, in a tiny little room talking about potty and playing with stickers. When your life revolves around a kitchen timer set to go off every twenty minutes (I think we’re training Pavlov’s penis) and the near-constant washing of Spiderman undies… well, we’ve got some dark circles under eyes around here.
But the training is going surprisingly well. By Day Two he was already telling us when he had to go, and by Day Three he was pretty good at it. I think we had to do only one load of pants and underwear yesterday. Saturday we must’ve done three. That’s progress.
What technique are we using? Bribes and distractions. Stickers and colored construction paper to keep him on the potty chair as long as necessary, and toys to reward him for going. So far, so good — and no fights, either. Although it did get a little rocky yesterday, by which point everybody, including the boy, had had enough stickers.
So we’re doing crayons now and washable markers. “Washable” is more like a theory, however.
Anyway, I’m proud of the kid. He’s made remarkable progress, and all without the parentals going too crazy. Tired, yes, but not crazy. Not any crazier, that is.
This, though, is truly nuts:
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is seeking the suspension of Eight Belles’ jockey after the filly had to be euthanized following her second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
Gabriel Saez was riding Eight Belles when she broke both front ankles while galloping out a quarter of a mile past the wire. She was euthanized on the track.PETA faxed a letter Sunday to Kentucky’s racing authority claiming the filly was “doubtlessly injured before the finish” and asked that Saez be suspended while Eight Belles’ death is investigated.
“What we really want to know, did he feel anything along the way?” PETA spokeswoman Kathy Guillermo said. “If he didn’t then we can probably blame the fact that they’re allowed to whip the horses mercilessly.”
Dig that formulation: “Did he feel anything along the way?” In other words, Eight Belles’ death was, depending on the jockey’s state of mind, a hate crime. I guess if Saez whipped less than he needed to, then what happened was just a dreadful accident.
Are the PETA folks misguided, nuts, or just stupid? My vote: All three.
Maybe for next year’s race — if President Obama and the Democratic Congress haven’t banned horse racing by then — the jockeys should bribe the horses into running fast, with stickers and crayons. It works for us, even if a two-year-old doesn’t exactly pee like a racehorse.
Even my wife was aghast when she read the PETA article over my shoulder last night. She rode when she was a kid, and worked at Pimlico for several years as a teen, so has a great love for horses. She was upset, of course, at what happened with Eight Bells. But PETA? Completely out to lunch.
The only question my wife has, which is apparently one that the racing industry has been grappling with for a while now, is whether or not fillies should be involved at this age. There is a development-cycle difference between the males and females (don’t tell NOW!), and the fillies may simply be too young for these races. But this is an industry-level question that needs to be researched more and answered. Not a justification for punishing a jockey. Oh, and an opportunity for showboating by PETA. But we won’t mention that in polite company….
This whole potty training phenomenon baffles me. As a parent of three sons, I guess my wife and I being willing to let the children have access to the bathroom at all times (even while being used) got them to get the whole idea eventually. There were accidents, as is normal, but the kids got it one day and really kept at it from then on. All these books, videos, consultants, experts, and such aren’t needed: just let the kids do their thing when they need to, and it’ll all be fine.
And thus ends today’s lesson in Things Other Parents Will Tell You To Do After You’ve Already Done It Another Way, Causing Some Resentment. We’ll be back next time, when your child is starting to read, have playdates, learns to swim, attends a preschool, attends a school, starts to date, picks a college, gets drunk the first time, and so on.
My wife and I had it easy. Two girls a year apart and both were potty trained with almost no muss at the same time (the younger just wanted to keep up with her sister so when we trained the elder the younger picked it up).
Yay for your boy. And yay for you parents as the diaper-free life approaches. Well, until Baby 2 comes along anyway.
“Are the PETA folks misguided, nuts, or just stupid?”
You left off evil. PETA are the enemies of humanity. One of these days one of them will get some cholera or typhoid and release it. Or do you believe they would balk at mass murder?
Of humans, I mean. Cute furry creatures, never.
Except for the strays they kill in their shelters, that is.
I’ve got a daughter that was no trouble at all really. Competition with the daycare kids got her in line.
My nephews though were “bribed” with little floating (and flushable) targets designed for the task. Their dad made it a game and once the competitive instinct took over that was all she wrote.
Oh and as for PITA. Just let them keep talking and making threats. There is very little any of us can say that will top their own words (Although I bet Hitchens could probably do it). This latest one is an absolute whopper of crass opportunism and retarded logic. I doubt it was missed by too many people.
PETA- People Eating Tasty Animals. That’s the way it should be.
I cried after that race, and I don’t cry. My youngest son couldn’t understand why Mommy was leaking! It’s really a wonder that all those horses don’t break something more often. Have you ever stood next to one of those thoroughbreds? Legs like table spindles, I tell you. I was at 2 of the 3 legs of the triple crown in 1986. Daddy had us up on “Millionaire’s Row”, and I can’t imagine how I would have felt if that had happened then. We went to the Derby and to Belmont. Watched Ferdinand win one and Danzig Connection win the other.
Anyway. Enough reminiscence. Remembering potty training brings on other horrible reminiscences that I won’t share, except that it gets easier the more you have. My oldest and second oldest trained together. The third one couldn’t wait to potty train because it meant he could go to school. This, we told him when he was 2… that was a long wait. The youngest just wanted to do everything everybody else was doing, so piece of cake. The first was the hardest though. We went through portable pottys, smaller sized potty seats, we ran the gamut of stuff. Wish I had some of that money back… Now we’re dealing with puberty with 3 of them. Wish us luck!
Well … I’m a long-time PETA hater, I support horse slaughter and call wild horses by their correct name: “Feral horses.”
That said, the horse-racing industry places too much stress on horses that are too young, IMO. These are preventable injuries, with different foot care, and waiting for them to mature.
I’ve slapped leather on horses as recently as … 18 hours ago. It’s not a sin, but pushing animals beyond what nature intends does have consequences.
“Are the PETA folks misguided, nuts, or just stupid?”
PETA has to act in accordance to its mission & vision. yeah at times they do sound misguided or nuts, but that their job.
It is entirely impermissable to discuss toiletry training of children in public.
Not to defend PETA, they are the most vile scum, but I interpreted their “feel” comment to mean that the jockey should have felt the motions and actions of the horse and how it was behaving with two broken ankles. But I could be wrong.
The interesting thing is that they were totally silent when Barbaro broke HIS leg two years ago at The Preakness. Mind you, that was at the beginning of the race and his jockey hopped off and did everything he could to help the horse. But not a word was said by these freaks then.
As far as the breeding, speaking from over 30 years showing and breeding Quarter Horses, there are trends in how a horse is to look. When I got in this business, everyone wanted a “boxy horse”: Solid in the chest, thicker in the neck and a rear that you could land a 747 on. Now, they want a more streamlined animal. Same with race horses. They want a big chest with lots of lung, big hind quarters for lots of power, and teeny tiny spindle legs like greyhounds. Mind you, they ARE the greyhounds of horses, but I don’t have to take physics to know how much stress a toothpick can take. The breeders are partially to blame. There have been too many fine animals finished recently due to this.
As for the notion that the jockey should have “felt” something, there is no way he could have known. World class athletes have been known to continue on after having an injury and never knowing until after it was over. And unless that filly actually pulled up and started limping, like Barbaro did, there was no way of telling what may or may not have happened. To my eye, from what I have seen, it happened after the race was over. No whip, no ones fault other than possibly a bad step. Heck, I tore two ligaments in my ankle taking my shoes off! Lord only knows what I could have done on all fours! There is way too much that can and does go wrong to place the blame in this instance.
For the record, my daughter, who was “housebroken” in 3 days, is now 10 and has filled a wall in her room with ribbons from showing her horse. And has called the last 5 Derby winners. I have yet to profit off of THAT particular talent….
“Heck, I tore two ligaments in my ankle taking my shoes off! Lord only knows what I could have done on all fours!”
Well, if a horse decides to take its shoes off, then that IS a problem.
Sink the cherrios works well for boys. My 3 girls were easy. My middle one just watched her sister and pretty much taught herself!
As per eight belles..this has really spiraled out of control including this idiot who says we should euthanize the jockey.
http://sportswrap.berecruited.com/2008/05/05/should-eight-belles-jockey-gabriel-saez-be-euthanized/
I’m a horse owner. The jockey did everything right. The owner did nothing wrong. I think this was just one of those freak events. Even the vets were stunned by it. The new synthetic surfaces appear to be much safer and there have been far fewer breakdowns on polytrack.
Shit happens..life has risk. Sometimes its nothing more than that.
PETA is also demanding that a memorial statue be put up in the former St. Paul Stockyards to
“recognize this site’s historical significance and honor the millions of cows auctioned off for slaughter.”
Reading their press releases always brings a smile to my face!
Shoebox, please tell me you’re joking?
Nope, wish I was:
http://www.startribune.com/local/east/18675084.html
Other than PETA members are crazy, I really don’t have an opinion on Eight Belles’ accident.
On potty training, I had it easy. Girls. You just put them in silky undies. One accident and they’re trained.
Of course, I’ve got one more left to go, and she’s a little pill, so when she reaches the appropriate age we’ll see if silky undies work on her, too.