I'm Pretty Sure Lionel Richie's Ballerina Girl Knew How To Use The Potty

Ever since I was 3, I was a dancer. You name it, I did it: ballet, lyrical, pointe, jazz, tap, performing, ballroom, Moldovan folk....

The 1980's were not kind to any one. Not even ballerinas.
Also, I'm notoriously unphotogenic. More on that later.

I danced until I left for college. I was a member of a dance company that can only be described as...industrious. In addition to the normal conferences, competitions, and recitals, we also danced at many festivals and events during the Christmas and summer seasons.

To this day, every time I hear "Run, Run Rudolf," I start to twitch.
Also, to my chagrin, Bryan Adams never made an official
appearance at our annual Christmas shows.

My years in dance were some of my best of childhood memories probably in part because by the time I was 13, I spent nearly as much time in the dance studio as I did in school.

I only stopped when I was 18, because I was curious as to what real teenagers did with free time on their hands. I took a couple dance courses in college, but my knees rebelled. I had to discontinue this activity, lest I become a cripple. Also, since I knew I wanted to go to law school, I needed to spend more time studying, and less time in frivolous (albeit loved) activities.

Lately, Prechooler has declared she is a ballerina. Actually, she declared she is a puppy ballerina. Whatever.

I swear this is through no influence of my own. I'm trying with all my might not to push her to dance unless she explicitly says she wants to. I don't want her to feel later in life that she is obligated to dance just because I did. But, I've already researched dance studios in our neck of of the woods, JUST IN CASE.

One studio in particular has an excellent preschool program. Unfortunately they require pupils be potty-trained before starting the program, which Preschooler is not.

We've tried, oh how we've tried. Incentives didn't work - not sticker charts, M&M's, toys from the dollar bin at Target. Nothing.

We tried making her sit on the potty at regular intervals. We tried letting her pick out her own potty and big girl underwear. We tried backing off and doing nothing at all. Nothing worked.

Now I've tried to explain that if she uses the potty now, she can go to ballerina studio and become a real ballerina. But I'm not certain she understands the concept of doing something now for a later reward.

So what's a mother to do? Mothers older and more experienced than tell me not to worry - nobody ever went to kindergarten in diapers.

But I think Preschooler is giving THAT axiom a run for its money.