Today, the boys were playing at the clubhouse. When I called them in, they both came right away - Freddie first but Jones following right behind, his shoes in his arms and pants around his ankles.
Wait.
WHAT?
Understandably befuddled, I asked him, "Jones. Why do you have your pants down?" Without a single shred of shame or irony, he said, "Because I went stinky outside, like Blue."
Oh, DID you now?
The answer, in short, is yes. He most certainly did - marked his territory right up by the clubhouse steps in what seemed to him as normal a thing as April showers bringing May flowers.
He wasn't punished. I've never once TOLD him not to "stinky outside, like Blue." Further, he wasn't at all ashamed or trying to hide anything. He thought what he did was well within the framework of civilized society. After all, BLUE does it!
What I did instead was give him a bath and explain that, while he sometimes pretends to be a dog, he is, in fact, a boy, and little boys do their business in potties.
Or at least, we HOPE they do.
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