Some gold from the past...liquid gold to be exact

Back in the dark ages of the internet, when we had dial-up (look it up, kids), we used an email service called Juno. It allowed you to type an email offline, and when you were ready to send it, the modem would dial up, it would send your email and receive any new ones, and then disconnect. When you had to pay for the connection minutes, it was a cost-efficient method. And it wouldn't tie up your phone line from that all-important phone call from your mother.

The problem with Juno is that you couldn't easily access your saved emails unless you had the Juno software. By the time we moved to Phoenix in 2004, we had gone the broadband route, and Juno's days, for us, were ending. I copied our saved mail folders onto a backup disc, but again, those emails are not very accessible. The farther we got from using Juno, the farther away I felt from those emails. Sometimes I would be looking for a file and I would finally remember that I must be thinking of something I had emailed and saved in a Juno folder.

The more we traveled as a family, the more keeping a travel journal became a routine for me. Yet somehow in the cross-country moves and various hard drive crashes (pre-OCD back-up days) I had lost a travel journal. In 2001, I went to Costa Rica with Sofia and Elena (Cristina stayed home with 10-month old Alex). In those pre-blog days, I shared my travel journals my emailing them to my family and friends. But no one seemed to have kept those emails, so I thought that journal was lost.

This past weekend, I was cleaning and decluttering the home office, and I found a few CDs and DVDs that had no labels. I also found a few "back up" discs. I took the stack to school and perused each one this afternoon. Most of it was junk or unreadable discs, but the "back up" one had a bunch of documents, some photos...and our Juno mail files.

Still inaccessible without a Juno account and software.

Like gold that's just out of reach.

Luckily, there's a hack for that.

A quick google search found a bit of a homemade app specifically to convert Juno mail folders into text files. It's clunky and not very user-friendly. For example, all the emails saved in a folder are placed in one big text file. But it's better than nothing. I managed to convert Cristina's folder and my folder.

I found a file called journals. I made a quick scan-through (after two after-school meetings, it was getting late, and I needed to get home). I'm pretty sure I found the Costa Rica 2001 journal. I'll look closer tomorrow.

Another lost treasure that I've wished I could access was the story of Sofia's potty training. I knew there were lots of funny details I had forgotten over the years, and I knew I had written it all up when it happened. But it had been locked up in a Juno mail folder all these years. 15 and a half years to be precise.

But not anymore.

Sofia, here's the story you've heard about. Your story. Enjoy.

*     *     *

I'm very proud of the fact that I have successfully taken on the responsibility of helping Sofia make the transition from diapers to toilet. Cristina is a wonderful mother in so many ways, but she totally loses her patience when it comes to Sofia's potty training. So I've stepped in and for some reason Sofia has made rapid progress under my "tutelage" in just a matter of days. I wanted to document the main events for myself, as well as other interested parties:

Prior to August 7: In an effort to make her more aware of her urges, we have been letting Sofia go around the house naked, or bottomless. Then, when she feels the urge, she asks for a diaper. Sofia vehemently refuses to have anything to do with a toilet, child potty or regular size. When asked about it, she says "Old people die on the potty." Cris and I are perplexed. She also absolutely refuses to wear panties. We smile weakly when people say "she'll eventually potty train." Secretly we have our doubts. Visions of diapers for years to come nag in our minds. It is a dark time.

August 7: Sofia and I are in the bathroom. She is bottomless and is twisting her legs up and clutching her groin. I nonchalantly ask her: "Sofie, you want to pee-pee in the shower?" To my amazement, she says yes. I stand her in the shower, show her how to spread her legs, and she cuts loose with a stream and a giggle. Progress. I give her toilet paper and help her wipe, then she gets some M&M's, a reward that has been in a jar in the bathroom waiting to be used for months.

August 8: Sofia has continued to use the shower regularly. It's a little more trouble to rinse out the tub, but at least she's not using diapers and she seems to enjoy it. She still wears a diaper to bed.

August 9: Sofia and Cristina have an argument because Cristina feels that Sofia has gone too long without peeing and tries to force her to use the shower. Sofia gets defiant and refuses to go. My hard work in jeopardy, I quickly intervene and coax Sofia into using the shower again.

I officially take over potty training duties and we decide Cristina will stay out of the way.

Several days go by. Sofia continues to use the shower to pee-pee and a diaper at night. She occasionally poo-poo's in the shower as well, but sometimes I resort to a diaper when she says she needs to poo-poo.

August 13: Cristina and I discuss our amazement in Sofia's bladder control. We decide to set a date for Sofia to no longer wear diapers in the daytime. We even explore the possibility of having a party, or a cake, or something to make it seem like a tangible rite of passage. I suggest Monday being the first day of diaper-free days. Cristina wonders how a trip to O2B Kids will be handled without diapers. "It's not like they have a shower there." I, the self-proclaimed potty training expert, scratch my chin with a reflective "hmm." I suggest she tell Sofia that she either must use the O2B potty or leave O2B and come home. "And," I also suggest, "make sure you take some spare panties."

Sofia, distracted by the presence of guests in our house, has a few accidents, but that is to be expected.

August 15: Sunday morning. Sofia and I are done with breakfast and I'm getting ready to go outside and work on the yard. Sofia wants to come with me. I nonchalantly say, "Would you like to wear a pair of panties?" To my amazement, she says yes. We go put some on. She comes outside wearing only white panties and sneakers. While I drag and cut branches, she waters the grass (and her Papi) with a hose.

Intoxicated with the sight of my panty-hating daughter in panties, I gently tell Sofia that she will no longer wear diapers in the daytime. A day early and no cake, but it feels right. Sofia has no problem with it.

Late afternoon. While I'm changing the oil in the car, Sofia tells me she needs to use the shower. Not wanting to clean up and go inside, I devilishly ask her if she'd like to pee in the grass. She devilishly says yes. She pulls her panties off and does her business right there beside the car.

After a shower, she willingly puts on a clean pair of panties. One more roadblock seemingly removed.

August 16: There are occasional tinges of desire for a diaper, but I keep the panties thing going with little comments like "Big girls wear panties. Coley wears panties." Coley is Sofia's best friend, another 3-year-old girl that Sofia adores. I do not know if Coley does, in fact, wear panties. But it is a gamble I'm willing to take. It works, and Sofia takes great pride in pulling her own panties up.

Sofia and Cristina go to O2B Kids for about 2 hours. Sofia does fine in panties and holds her pee until they get home. Cristina and Sofia have another argument because Sofia only wants to pee in the grass. Cristina refuses and explains that "Papi made a mistake letting you pee in the grass." She explains the many reasons why people pee inside. In defiance, Sofia pees on the kitchen floor. When I get home and get appraised of the situation, I have a heart-to-heart with Sofia and tell her that I did, indeed, make a mistake. Sofia seems fine with it and goes back to peeing in the shower.

August 17: Sofia and I are in the bathroom while waiting for Cristina to get home from her mother's. Sofia says she needs to pee. I nonchalantly say "I'll give you a lollypop if you go in the little potty." To my shock and surprise, she agrees. We pull down her panties, she sits on the potty, and with a big grin, she cuts loose. Victory! The Rocky theme plays in my head, but I restrain myself and don't make too big of a deal about it. I think gushing with praise makes her a little timid and I don't want her to back off.

Cristina gets home, wonders why in the world Sofia is eating a lollypop before dinner, then gushes with praise when she finds out. I realize that the gushing of praise from Mommy is safe, because she's more of the audience than the tutor. I think I potty train like a Jedi master: calm and at peace with the universe. A Jedi Master doesn't jump up and down when the student pee-pees in the potty. A Jedi Master simply nods with a wise expression and pats the apprentice on the shoulder (and slips them a lollypop).

Bedtime. As I prepare to put Sofia in her night-night diaper, she suddenly says she wants to wear panties to bed. Stunned, I secretly consort with Cristina, and we decide to go for it. I put a towel down in the bed just in case. Sofia wears panties to bed for the first time and wakes up dry the next morning.

August 18: Sofia has, thank goodness, continued to pee-pee in the little potty (and occasionally in the shower). In the course of about 10 days, she has gone from only peeing and pooping in a diaper, hating panties, and fearing potties, to a panty-wearing, potty-using, diaper-free young lady. Our heads are still reeling.

Sofia and Cristina go to Mother Earth and buy some all-natural gummy bears to use as potty rewards instead of lollypops. They come visit me at work. Cristina leaves GHS to run some errands and Sofia and I go up to the front office for something. Sofia has shown the signs of needing to pee, but of course there is no little potty at Gainesville High School. Finally, one of the last roadblocks is triumphantly obliterated with the simple phrase "Papi, I want to pee-pee in the big potty." We go in the faculty men's room and I sit her on the big potty and hold on to her. I don't want to set our progress back months by an accidental slip or even a slight feeling of unease or insecurity on this big potty. As I hold on to her, she pees in the big potty. Angels blew their horns. I was so proud I gave her a whole bag of gummy bears.

When Cristina gets back from her errands, she wonders why in the world Sofia was eating an entire bag of gummy bears. I tell her the news, and she gushes. We are both quite dumbfounded to say the least.

I'm convinced that tomorrow she will ask me for the car keys.

The End (of our diaper-washing days?)

24 August 1999