Growing Up

I think that Rhiannon is struggling with growing up - moving to her next stage. I read something awhile ago - mothers talking about the transition that their kids went through at the half year mark. I kind of dismissed it and didn't think that any of my kids had ever been like that. But here it is, Rhiannon is 5 1/2 and she is struggling with something.

She is struggling again to sleep in her own bed - ending up almost every night in my bed for the lasat couple of weeks. I awake and put her back in the early part of the night but she invariably sneaks in in the middle of my deep sleep and I don't wake up - until the morning when she is there beside me. She wants me to dress her and undress her and choose her clothes. She wants me to choose which movie she watches and put it on for her (she's known how to operate the VCR since she was 3). The most worrisome thing is that she wants me to wipe her bum for her. I did it a couple of times and then told her I wouldn't do it anymore (but I would be glad to help her do it). So guess what, she has stopped pooping. It has been more than 10 days since the last time she pooped. I think this pattern has been going on for awhile. She will hold it, hold it, hold it and then have a gigantic poop - big-enough-to-plug-the-toilet-poop. The last couple of times she holds it for soooooo long that little bits of poo start to escape in her panties. Gross. One day, after washing out 4 pairs of panties, I told her if she did it again, I was going to buy some diapers for her. So she pooped in the toilet and plugged it.... That was the last time. She is back at the same stage now where she has had some poop in her panties a couple of times, a little in the bath last night. Kaetlyn and I tried to tease her into it while in Vancouver - we chanted 'set the poo free' while marching back and forth in front of the bathroom at Grandma B's. No luck. Then I started to really notice how long it has been since she pooped.... I have been talking to her about it. I think it is all related to growing up - going to the next stage. I think she is having some kind of anxiety about it. She says she doesn't want to poop because I won't wipe her bum. Is this the definition of stubborn? Or what!?! So we have been talking about all the advantages of getting older and the things she will be able to do and how it is okay for her to grow up. And talking about how important it is for her to poop - the function that fills in her body... So far no luck. We each made ourselves some tea this afternoon. I slipped a laxitive tea into her little teapot. That was hours ago. Still no poop. That stuff makes me poop pretty darn quickly! What will happen? How can she hold it for so long? That must be such a gross feeling...