Oh Crap! Potty Training

we got a dog, I’m a total dog person. And since I have a dog and five-
year-old, I can’t help but notice many similarities between these two
small beings. It didn’t take me long to figure out how much
information our dog receives from nonverbal cues. This dog (and while
I love her, I don’t think she’s special in this respect) knows the
different sounds my pots and pans make and which one is most likely
to yield a snack. She knows that when my coffee starts brewing, it’s
time to wake up and pee. But mostly she senses excitement,
anticipation, and fear in me. And she reacts accordingly.
A few weeks back, we were going on a road trip to see my best
friend. Stella (the dog) was coming with us, but she didn’t seem to
get that. That morning, the packing, the anticipation, the energy of
going on a trip was driving her bananas. She was under foot and
whining. I finally put her in the car to wait for us and she settled
right down. She knew something was happening and she wasn’t sure what.
Once in the car, she was okay. Like, “I’m going with them. Okay.
Cool.”
OUR CHILDREN ARE NO DIFFERENT. They are just figuring
out the big world around them. They are sensitive and on high alert
for new information, largely from nonverbal cues. They are watching,
listening, and, more important, sensing what it is we are feeling. And
they are going to react accordingly.
I think most people don’t even realize how sensitive our children
are because we talk to them and assume that they understand. So even
if we are shaking with fear, we assume that we can talk our way out of
it. But with little kids, that’s not true. They pick up that vibe way
more than they pick up on the words.