Pottry Training on Park Lawns Okay? Around Town, posted by Disgusted, a resident of Menlo Park, on Aug 26, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Today I was at the park in Palo Alto on Kipling and watched as a mother potty trained her 3 year old by having him defecate in the middle of the playground, on the lawn, near the cement slide in a location where my baby had just been crawling. She took OFF his diaper and had him defecate there. I kid you not. And it took ten minutes for the boy to do it, with her prodding. This was a relatively normal looking mother--she was not derelect. My children were completely grossed out, it smelled awful so we left. But as I packed up my stroller, which was within several feet of the "event," I told her that was not appropriate for a park setting and to do it at home. She screamed at me [portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff.] What kind of community are we living in where people can defecate on our lawns and then curse at us in front of our kids at parks? Do people here think it's okay to defecate on a lawn in a park, whether pottytraining or at 80?
Posted by qq, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Aug 26, 2007 at 9:44 pm
Hey Disgo!
When ya gotta go. Ya gotta go. Perhaps next time she can slip a little Ex-Lax in his sippy cup to accelerate the training.
I suggest that in the future you don't confront the heathens. Instead snap a pic discreetly with your camera phone and then dial the PAPD non-emergency number. The dispatcher will gladly send an officer over (They show up quick, less than a minute! You had ten!) and it will give both the dispatcher and the officer something to chuckle about.
Posted by Citizen, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Aug 26, 2007 at 11:34 pm
Editor - you deleted the best part, what did the crazy lady scream at Disgusted?
Are you trying to protect the privacy of a woman who lets her kid crap in the park or are you protecting us from her vile language? Did this really need to be edited?
Posted by Wow, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Aug 27, 2007 at 8:30 am
WOW .. I cannot even fathom what the mother was thinking. The kid had a diaper on ... there was no need to remove the diaper and then to prod the child ..
I can understand an "accident" with a child who is just out of diapers. But even then, grab the child - do the clean up in your own car .. there is no reason for a public ceremony !
Posted by Parent, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Aug 27, 2007 at 10:12 am
I want to ask a question which is not clear? Did the woman sit the child on a potty in the middle of the play area?
Many potty training books advocate carrying the potty with you wherever you go and when you feel it is the right time for the child, sit the child on the potty whatever they are doing and wait for a result while the child is still busy doing the same thing. The idea that taking a child away from its activity makes the child resent the interruption and therefore refrains from "letting go" on a potty because they associate it with an interruption of their activities.
This may be taking the theory to the extreme, but I know that it is one school of thought. My own personal view is that this may work at home, but not in public.
Posted by Also a mother, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Aug 27, 2007 at 10:34 am
There is no sanity check before having a child and the stress of being responsible for a small human who does not speak can push some women over the edge. Who knows what she was thinking. Just like who knows what qq is thinking, to him it is a big joke. His understanding of babies and of those who take care of them is limited.
Can you file a report with the police giving a description of the woman and of the baby as best you can. Now that you have described it here, others will be paying attention too.
Posted by thanks!, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Aug 30, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Snapping a cell phone photo!! Then call the cops! What a good idea! I am going to remember this for several incidents I have witnessed, and one I called in a few months ago..it would have been better to have a photo of what I reported as a burglary in action.
Posted by PA Resident, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Sep 5, 2007 at 12:36 pm
I hope that mother cleaned up the mess. Maybe the dog scooper laws should be extended to cover overzealous potty-training parents who let their kids poop in the park. I don't know why so many mothers are pushing the potty training so early on their children. Like the kids won't get into Harvard unless they are out of diapers by 2. Ridiculous!! Potty training should be treated like walking, when the child is physically and mentally ready, then the child will use the toilet. Until then, stock up on the pull-ups and let the child play, not poop, in the park.
Posted by Bystander, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Sep 5, 2007 at 1:12 pm
I certainly agree that potty training as such should not be done in our parks, but I am not in agreement with PA Resident's comment that there is a rush to get toddlers potty trained. I think that nowadays children are left in diapers much too long because pull ups are too convenient for everyone and there is a general laziness in attitudes to getting kids trained. Back in the days when there were no pullups and the average mother had to wash cloth diapers herself, two was old for a child to be still in diapers!!
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