Warning: This story is potentially embarrassing to anyone that is a future 16 year old Scarlett.
Months and months ago I took Scarlett to her four year check up, when the nurse asked if she would be willing/able to give a urine sample, I chuckled, smiled kindly and said "she can sure try". After giving brief instructions to Scarlett on the use of a sterile cup and where exactly her pee comes from, hand in hand we walked to the bathroom. Ready, set, go. She sat trying, I sat waiting, holding the cup, anxiously listening for the first signs she was ready, deflated she said, "I don't have any", and we sat a little longer. I told her it was okay, there was no rush, internally laughing that the doctor thought that a four year old could actually pee in a cup, and also cringing, knowing that there was no way we were leaving this bathroom without one of us soaked in pee. Five minutes passed and I offered her water, she perked up, not knowing previously that this was an option. I handed over the cup, re-ran over the instructions of where to hold the it if she felt the urge, reminded her that she only needed a little bit, closed the bathroom door and sprinted to the waiting room for her sippy cup. I was gone literally 30 seconds, worried the whole time about leaving her alone with the giant unknown task of peeing in a cup. Would she pee and forget about the cup, would she pee and soak herself in the processes, would she still be sitting there holding a cup under her naked bottom patiently waiting for something to happen? 30 seconds of true mommy worry. Seriously asking myself, when did this become a worry and why?
I opened the door, already feeling deflated for Scarlett, she was trying so hard with no results. As I rounded the corner of the open door, all I saw was a beaming Scarlett and a cup full to the brim of urine. Hands completely clean. Clothes completely dry. Not a drop in the toilet, every single drip of urine captured in the sterile vessel held in her hand. I beamed back in her direction, in that moment, I was oddly proud of my four year old for being so brave, for following directions, for peeing in a cup better than I do. Being a mom is so weird.
As she ran, and I walked proudly back into our waiting room, I asked her how she got all of her pee into the cup so gracefully, and she said "I pee into cups in the bath tub all the time".
My pride shattered and all I could think in that moment was "gross!". Being a mom is so weird.
