Marking The Corners

We are about to tackle Phase Two of Carl’s toilet training adventure – elimination of the night-time nappy. Originally we thought we’d do this a lot sooner but frankly, it’s been so blissful not having to deal with nappy issues since he became day-time toilet trained that we were a bit apprehensive about upsetting the equilibrium. However the time has come. In the evenings once he’s had his bath, brushed his teeth and is all soft and warm and snuggly and ready for bed I pop on his nappy then his pj’s (usually the ones with little monkeys eating bananas all over because he is, in fact, our little monkey).
However recently I’ve noticed that as he plonks himself down on his well-padded butt to rummage through the bookshelf for a book to read, he presses a hand to his groin to check that I really did put a nappy on, looks at me and asks “I’ve got a nappy, right?” then he gets this suspiciously blissful, distant look on his face. As his eyes almost cross with pleasure I realise that the little blighter is peeing. Now I know that his genes are stacked against him in trying to discourage this kind of behaviour. After all: he is a MALE.
Before those Y chromosome handicapped readers among you start protesting, consider this. Men love to pee on things. Like some feral instinct, this need to pee on the scenery as if marking their territory is deep seated inside most blokes. Don’t believe me? Try going camping with a guy. I guarantee the first thing he’ll do is whip out the Jolly Roger and christen the nearest tree with it. I’m not just slandering hubby here, I’ve seen countless guys do this. And you don’t see women peeing on in alleys or outside pubs, do you? (To be fair, Singaporean men don’t seem to do this but that may have more to do with the spotlessly clean state of the place and perhaps the potentially horrendous penalties involved if caught). So when Carl sighs with the sheer delight of being able to relieve his bladder without even having to walk a few steps to one of the five toilets in this apartment, I know getting rid of the night-time nappy is going to be an uphill struggle.
Then again, it’s not like we often get seven hours uninterrupted sleep, so maybe we can wait another couple of months.