I Wipe My Own Butt!

A couple of months ago, I was watching Supernanny and it showed the nanny being so shocked that the mother still wiped her 8 year old sons butt after a bowel movement. It got me thinking. What is the appropriate age to teach the life skill of wiping one's own butt? I asked a few moms and no one knew exactly when there child learned to wipe their butt or even how they taught them. They say one day their children just did it. Bunny is going to enter Kindergarten in the fall and I can't imagine their teacher taking time away from teaching to wipe my child's butt if she ever passes a bowel movement in school. So, I taught her. She was eager to do it. First time, she took the tissue paper and was rubbing her butt back and forth. If you can't imagine this, she was smearing her feces all along her butt crack. Gross. Then I taught her she only goes one way and that she needs to get a fresh paper each time. A couple of times, she got poop on her fingers but today... yes, today... she did it all by herself. She went upstairs after she announced she had to go "poo-poo". I was waiting for the "mommy, I'm done!" But I heard a flush and Bunny pops out of the bathroom yelling, "I wiped my own butt!! I wiped my butt... I wiped my butt BY MYSELF!!"" I was so proud of her. Hopefully she did a good enough job that I don't see any skid marks on her underwear. She's growing up. (sigh)

Yesterday, Lamb managed to keep her underwear dry the whole day. She's been a little terror potty training but I hope she'll get the hang of it, soon.