Potties and Fire Drills Don't Mix

Poor Lex! How many times can this possibly happen to one child? Last year in preschool, the restroom was on the other side of the building from her classroom. One day towards the beginning of the school year, Lexi was in the restroom and the fire alarm went off. Can you imagine? She was FOUR! Oh how awful! She was so traumatized that she would not go potty at school for the rest of the year, even with an adult! She wouldn't even go with me when I would try to take her to that restroom! For the two months that followed, she went through a horrible separation anxiety phase and every time one of us would leave the house or leave her anywhere she would go into these uncontrollable kicking screaming hysterical fits. It was so awful! As time went by, it passed but she still wouldn't use the restroom at school. When she started kindergarten this past fall, I thought "Oh good, now she can potty at school again" thinking it was a new school, the restroom was in the classroom, no problem right?

Tuesday morning on the announcements, the Principal announced they would be having a fire drill that day. So an alarm must have gone off in Lexi's head...MUST NOT GO POTTY TODAY! Because she had an accident in her pants! The teacher sent her to the nurse for a change of clothes and guess what happened when she went into the bathroom to change clothes...you guessed it...FIRE DRILL! Bless her heart! How many times can this happen to one child? Have I already said that? The following day, I volunteered at the school all day so I went by to visit with her teacher during my break. I told her that Lexi had a history with fire drills and restrooms. She's the sweetest little lady. She comforted me and said, "It's okay, Mommy! She will be fine! I will make sure she goes potty!" The next day at the dinner table, Lexi announced that Mrs. F had been taking her to the Lu (that's what her teacher calls the potty, spelling???). She said, "She stands right outside of the door while I potty and she even lets me wash my hands in the classroom so I don't have to stay in the bathroom for very long." And today she told us that Mrs. F even flushes the toilet for her because she doesn't like the loud noise the flushing makes. I wanted to cry!

Mrs. F is so sweet and nurturing and caring and she truly takes care of these babies! She's a special teacher! For all the bad press public schools and teachers get these days, let me assure you, there are some WONDERFUL teachers out there that truly go to the ends of the earth to help their students succeed, even if it's just to succeed at getting over the fear of a fire drill on the potty! We love Mrs. F!!!! Thank you Lord for a special teacher that takes such good care of my baby!