Some things come easy for preschoolers. Some things do not. In the case of our three year old daughter, pooping fits in the latter category.

It’s not that she can’t poop. It’s just that she won’t. At least not where we would like her to start pooping.

It’s not that she’s afraid of the toilet. She takes care of her other business easily on it. She’s been doing that for a LONG time.

We’ve tried offering incentives (that’s parent-speak for bribing). We’ve tried not cleaning her pants for a while after she goes in them. We’ve tried leaving her walking around the house kind of like a hippy. We’ve tried to ask her if she’s afraid. We’ve tried begging. We’ve even come close to yelling at her.

All for naught.

She’s 38 months old. It’d be great if she took this next step any day now.

Maybe this experience just teaches me a new saying. “You can lead a toddler/preschooler to water, but you can’t make her poop.”

Anyone else feeling our pain?

Before Brea and I had our first child, I was kind of worried about how having kids would change me. Three years later, I love every minute of it. Well, maybe I didn’t love getting puked on at Mimi’s Cafe or kissing puke on Lilyana’s face when I couldn’t see in the dark of the middle of the night, but I’ll take those few low moments in exchange for the absolute joy that these girls bring into my heart every day.

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There are some days that I wonder what our culture is doing to us. The other day was one of those days.

I was having lunch with a man from my church. He has four kids, three of which are teenagers. None of them are involved in a ridiculous amount of extra-curricular activities, but their lives are still chaotic. They’re involved in a sport that requires early mornings, extensive travel, and a large chunk of time. Their story is not unique, nor is the sport that takes up a HUGE chunk of their time.

The unfortunate byproduct of their lives the way they are now is that they have very little margin left. Almost of their time is devoted to going. Going to and from school, sports, work, internships, jobs, and . . . church.

One of the things that I love about this family is that they are devoted to their faith and the church. It’s rare that they miss a Sunday. But because of the pace of life that has been thrust upon them they’re not able to connect with others in the church at the level they want and need. And since they can’t connect the pace of life takes a harder toll on them and creates more stress. It’s a vicious cycle.

They seem to be victims of our culture’s crazy pace of life. They’re busy living life, but don’t feel fully alive.

Where do you see this happening in your life? I the lives of those around you? Is there anything that we can do to combat this?

Image by flickr user Éole