A Different Kind of Wealth

Tajikistan is the poorest of the former Soviet Republics. I don’t know how that’s all worked out (whether that’s income per capita versus cost of living or employment rates or what) but I must say that it is rich in so many other areas that really are more important to quality of life. I’m thinking about this today because yesterday the electricity cut out for about 3 hours in the late afternoon/evening and it was HOT. Hannah and Emmett woke up from their naps just after Rees came home and they were sweaty and hot (no AC, no fans, no running water when the electricity is out and temps are well over 100 these days with humidity still in the air). Usually on Thursday evenings we eat an early dinner (or really late dinner) so that Hannah and I can go outside and visit with the women and children from about 6pm til dark (8:30 or 9). Rees stays home with Emmett because he goes to bed early. Because it was so hot in our apartment, Rees decided to go outside with us – which is a spectacle in and of itself since most of the men aren’t outside playing with children! Hannah and I found some neighbors who were cleaning up after canning about 30 jars of tomato sauce (which they had cooked outside over a fire – very typical). They welcomed us to their circle and we all talked about how hot it was and they told me about all they were canning and how it was better to can together and they wanted to make sure I understood that it’s a good time to can tomato sauce. All the while the little kids are happily running around playing, one of the women is nursing her baby, other neighbors are talking to us out their windows and we are all dripping sweat. After some laughs and making suggestions for what to make for dinner and where to get nectarines for the cheapest price, one of the women looked at me and said (more or less), “Tajikistan is naughty. No electricity, it’s hot, we’re sweating. America is better.” I answered this how I normally do, “yes, America almost always has electricity, but I think most Tajiks would be very sad there.” I went on to explain that most people live by themselves (with their own nuclear family if they have one) and there aren’t many women close by who sit outside taking a break from their work talking to each other. In fact, many neighbors don’t even know each other. They can’t even comprehend that it’s not unusual for neighbors to hardly say a word to each other in 20+ yrs of living next to each other. Here there is so much visiting, sharing and dividing work, “living off the land,” neighbor kids helping with smaller children, commitment to families, etc. It’s obviously no utopia here as dysfunction can be found on every front but I looked at this neighbor’s smiling, sweating face, looked at all her jars full of the spoils of summer to be eaten in winter, looked at the women around who had helped with the work and who were laughing with each other and I thought, “she probably doesn’t know how rich she really is.” I suppose that could be said of each of us.

Gaping Disparities

I am extremely happy to report that there is a public pool within a 5-minute walk (5 min w/ kids, stroller, towels, floaties, etc) of our apartment. It’s actually even a decent pool – good size, rectangle, water drained and pool cleaned once a week, fresh frigid mountain water added, even a little chlorine added for hygiene (at least I’m told there is a little chlorine in there – can’t smell it though). There’s no shallow area, but you can find different types of floaties pretty easily here (still haven’t found water wings). We can go swimming for the equivalent of 45 cents for our whole family (and I thought Portland Parks and Recreation was impressive!). Needless to say, we go to the pool often. It’s amazing that it can be somewhere in the range of 108 degrees and once we go swimming we get out and actually feel like it’s a pleasant temperature out. We are so thankful for this unexpected blessing of the pool close to our home.

The other day we were at the pool and I was struck by the disparity in expectations of modesty for men and women. There really aren’t any women who go swimming. It’s generally almost 100% men (until Hannah and I show up J). I always swim with huge shorts and t-shirt on over my swimsuit. Jenny says I look like a tomboy in my swim outfit. When I’m done swimming I very discretely put my kurta back on (the Tajik dress and pants we wear here) still over my swimsuit. Now the men on the other hand swim in their underwear and when they are done just strip naked on the side of the pool and get dressed. I also must mention that the pool isn’t walled in or anything, you can look in at it from the busy street. One of the main reasons that women don’t go swimming at the pool is that it’s not decent for them to do so. It’s only semi-permissible for me to go because I only go with my husband and kids, I wear this tom-boy swim outfit and I’m a foreigner so the expectations of me aren’t the exact same. But I’ll tell ya, some of these HOT days I think about how unfair it is that all these men just head to the pool and get cooled off and the women are stuck where they always are – at home working, sweating up a storm. I will confess that it has been satisfying to me to see the surprised look on some of these men’s faces when I step to the edge of the pool to jump in. I’m occasionally asked, with some degree of shock, if I’m able to swim. I love to point to Emmett and say, “Of course! I’ve been swimming since I was his age!” and then jump in. It compares to the looks we get when I’m with some of the other foreign women in a car with one of them driving (most women can’t drive).

I also want to not only lament the lot in life of most Tajik women, but also praise them for being absolutely AMAZING. Most 10 year-old girls here could probably teach what used to be home-ec in school.  Most women rise before the sun comes up, sweep their driveways, patios and yards, get breakfast started, often make dough for bread, serve their families breakfast, wash dishes, then sweep and clean every room of their home, including folding up the korpuchas they slept on. Most rooms in a Tajik home are spotless with very little inside. Seriously, a rug on the floor, maybe some sort of armoire or chest and possibly a TV. Then they start the mid-day meal, which is frequently hot, served with salad and bread and possibly fruit (candies, cookies and nuts and such if there are guests), do the dishes and clean that up and if they are lucky, they get to take a nap. I frequently see the women at this time of day cooking their bread in the tandoor or canning whatever is in season. They make jam, the equivalent of salsa, pickles, regular canned fruits, juice (or compote as they say) and whatever else they can think of (our Tajik family cans a lot of hot peppers). I also see them washing their family’s clothes either in the morning or at this after-lunch-time-of-day. Then they sweep outside again, make the evening meal (generally something simple), serve their families, clean up, put out their beds (korpuchas) get water heated up for their husbands (and once a week their kids) to take a bath and go to bed. Most of them also know how to sew and in the village they are also gardening, milking the cow and taking care of the chickens. Amazing. Now the men? If they are not working outside the home (the economy here stinks – if they heard our worst unemployment numbers in the states they would think we must have gotten our numbers mixed up – how could 12% unemployment be bad?). They get up when they feel like it, get served their breakfast, put on the clean clothes that are waiting for them, maybe do a few chores around the yard (fixing a roof, hoeing a portion of the garden, washing the car, etc), watch TV, eat lunch, take a nap, watch more TV, go out and hang out with their friends doing who-knows-what (Rees would have to fill in the blanks here) come back for dinner, sit around talking, maybe watch more TV, maybe go out with their friends again, take a bath and go to bed.

It’s for this reason that Rees is so intriguing and such an anomaly. He’s strong (i.e.: he doesn’t seem like a push-over, he’s a good soccer player and he can communicate with passion and conviction) but he also actually wants to help me with some household tasks, spend time with his kids, enable me to go out without the kids sometimes, and actually asks me what I think about certain things before he makes a decision. He even says thank you to me for everything I do for our family. I doubt that even 1% of Tajik women will ever be thanked by the men in their families for all the work they do in their lifetimes. If I pour Rees some coffee or tea he says thank you, most men here toss their cup to a woman and if they say anything, say, “pour me tea.” I’m so thankful for my husband and it’s amazing to me that he’s making a difference here just by treating me with respect and love.

Well, I’ve had this blog entry steeping in me for some time so there you have it. The next time you go swimming in a public swimming area – take a look at the ratio of men and women and think about us here in Tajikistan and the many other countries that are so similar (and even more conservative) all over the world.

Getting Out

We've now been here for 7 months - can you believe that? There have been some days that have gone by at a snail's pace (like our first two days living in the village - I remember thinking, "this month is going to feel like a year") but on the whole the last year or so has really zoomed by. Tomorrow will be Emmett's first birthday and I distinctly remember what we were doing the night before his birthday as if it was last month (we walked around Mt Tabor with the Readys and then went out to Lebanese food at YaHala). I remember asking Mother Mary (the nun in charge of bed control at Providence - remarkable lady) if she could honestly tell me that time seemed to slow down at some phase of life. She said, "if I were to be really honest, it only goes faster." I'm only in my early 30s and I'm already sensing the truth of that statement. All that to say that we're pretty well adjusted to the day-to-day aspects of life here in Tajikistan and have started to feel the desire to get out and explore a bit. Two weekends ago we, along w/ Jenny and Myles (since Troy is in the states) went up to Dushanbe (the capital city and truly "city-ish" too) for the weekend. We stayed in a guest house (well, apartment) that ended up being way nicer than we ever imagined it would be. There were beds, a kitchen, a real western-style bathroom, tables/chairs, sofas, a TV and the best thing of all was running water! I never imagined what a treat it would be to be able to predictably turn on the cold water knob of the faucet and have cold water come out and turn on the hot water knob and have hot water come out - Amazing. I was even taking a shower one evening when the electricity went out and the shower stayed on and the water stayed hot - I'm still mystified by that one. One of the highlights of being there was that our friends, Zack & Mary and their little girls, Hannah Renee and Nadiah (the same Hannah Renee that helped our Hannah color her wall) were also in town and we got to spend some wonderful time together. Rees & Zack watched all the kids Sat morning (they took them to the zoo, which sounds like a sad place to be an animal, but the kids liked it) while Jenny, Mary and I went out to coffee (yes, a real coffee place with lattes and cinnamon rolls and everything!). We got to talk and catch up and encourage each other for two whole, uninterrupted hours. It's amazing what good that does the heart of a woman. When we got back to the house all the kids were jumping on the beds and having a great time together. Jenny and I got to go shopping together while they were all taking naps. We even found a kids toy store that had toys, puzzles, games, craft supplies that were the kinds of things we'd enjoy giving our kids in the states. That was super encouraging as everything where we live is more reminiscent of those vending machines with the grabbers - China's lowest quality stuff I'm pretty sure. Rees and I got to have a date night while Jenny watched the kids which was such a gift. It's always nice to remember how much you like each other :) We went to a Middle Eastern restaurant and then out to cappuccinos (yes! real cappuccinos!) and then we got to walk all the way home, even stopping in the big city park. I think the highlight for the kids (minus Emmett b/c he was too small) was the SFC down the street (Southern Fried Chicken which oddly comes out of England). They have an indoor play area with a slide, trampoline and ball pit (you know, those colorful, plastic balls kids can jump in). You pay for your kids to play there (the equivalent of $2 or so for an hour) which keeps it from getting crowded. They even got to eat chicken nuggets and jojo fries (so did I and it's amazing how good fast food tastes when you haven't eaten it or anything like it for 7 months). We even had a few good rain storms, which for us Pacific NWesterners was heavenly.  All in all, we came back refreshed and really encouraged that we could do something like that a couple times a year or so. It was so nice to have some familiar comforts, not have any knocks on the door (don't get me wrong, we welcome the knocks, it's just nice to have a break), see our kids having such a great time and not having to fend off all the neighbor kids who want to pick them up all the time, and just get to connect with each other and our friends.

If that wasn't enough, the following weekend we got to go up to the mountains for 5 days. Rees is director of the English Club that operates under the NGO we are working with and he and the other teachers took 13 students from the 2yr US embassy sponsored program up to a camp for a 5 day "English Intensive" where they did all kinds of activities in English, both classroom studies and sports/games. For most of the girls, it was the first time they were allowed to do athletic activities and it was so fun to see their confidence grow in such a short period of time. We also took them on a hike and for many of them it was their first time ever doing anything like that. Even 2 of the 3 moms (chaperones) went. Hannah had a fantastic time. The reality is she'd probably have a fantastic time wherever the Wilbur family with their 5 kids were and Emmett is pretty much happy anywhere, so with the exception of a little tummy trouble, it was another wonderful weekend. We're looking forward to the next place we get to explore.

A spring-time update

Hannah just turned three on April 10^th and we think she’s got to be one of the funniest, cutest three year olds on the planet. Of course we realize that most other parents think the same thing about their children but we rejoice that God created us to really love our children and think these kinds of things. Sure helps with the rough times. It seems like she always has something funny to say: ie: she walked into the room a few days before her birthday with her elbows up to her ears and her hands hanging down and told me, “I’m a switch.” When I tried to flip the switch on I said, “Well then let’s see what happens when I turn this switch on.” She quickly said, “NO mommy! Don’t turn me one! I’m almost three years old!” If she’s not saying something funny she’s saying it in a funny way, maybe with overzealous enthusiasm, “We’ve got to be SOOOOOO careful when we’re cutting onions with a sharp knife or we might REALLY REALLY REALLY  hurt ourselves.” These kinds of comments help us know that at least some things we say are sinking in.  Other times it’s mixing Tajik with English, “are those onions tez-tezzie-tez-tez?” Tez means sharp, hot and fast here and we use it to describe onions that make your eyes water but of course just saying “tez” isn’t enough, it has to be “tez-tezzie-tez-tez.” When we can’t keep a straight face any longer she quickly reprimands us saying, “That is NOT funny! You do NOT laugh!” Which makes us laugh even harder as she stomps out of the room. We are so thankful for all the laughs and all the sweet and remarkable things about her. The difficult things are really difficult (that little will is really impressive) but we continue to try to keep things in perspective and tell her frequently that she’s a leader – don’t think she knows what that means but she will someday.

Emmett is 10 1/2 months now and I don’t know how he does it, but he’s just cuter and cuter all the time. After crawling backwards for 2 months he finally started going forward at 10 months. That same week he got his first tooth – both to which Hannah gave him a big cheer, “Way to go Em! You got a tooth! Good job!” His temperament is still super sweet and slightly particular. He’s really happy crawling around our apartment and I’m really thankful for the smaller space and the Tajik standard of frequently cleaning your floors because I don’t have to worry so much about him finding things on the floor he can choke on. It’s funny to think that at this age Hannah was pointing to anything sparkly or shiny and whispering, “pretty” while Em is crawling around the floor growling like a tiger. I love seeing the differences between them. Hannah was never really enthralled with one object for very long, whereas Emmett could spend all day examining the vacuum cleaner and still look forward to checking it out again tomorrow – even better if we moved it from room to room and allowed him to crawl around trying to find it.

They’ve both had their sicknesses but we are happy to report they are doing better now. Hannah had scarlet fever (thanks Andrew for helping us figure that one out!) and it took us a month to finally figure it out (what seemed to be different, un-related symptoms every week). She took antibiotics for the first time in her life and as soon as she was done with them, Emmett got sick with nasty chest and sinus congestion and a raging fever. Thankfully, they are doing great now. Em still has a little residual cough but they are both acting like themselves again.

Rees has been playing football with a very competitive team here and enjoys it most days. It’s a little complicated because we’re learning Tajik and the coach coaches in Russian so someone always has to translate into Tajik for him (and Troy is playing too) and they have to try to figure out what the Tajik means. He had a bummer of a day last week where he went to the field that another player had told him their practice game was at only to get there and find the field empty. By the time he got to the other field (which is outside the city – not convenient or quick to get to) he was late and the coach made him run 10 laps and then he didn’t get to play in the game. Of course, he would have been on time at the correct field if he had understood that. Fortunately, he has a great sense of humor so it became tragically funny pretty quick. He’s also working with the English club here – helping come up with a vision for how it should run and what should change. He’s already taught a few classes and enjoyed it and both of us are looking at teaching some more. He and Troy are also working on marketing (more or less) and fund-raising for the NGO (non-governmental-organization) we are working with here, Millennium Development Partners. Get ready, very soon you will be receiving a link to the revamped web-sight and you’ll be able to check out all the projects Millennium has going on both here and in other parts of the world.

I am staying busy with language lessons, visiting with neighbors (hospitality is HUGE here so there’s lots of visiting), taking care of my kids and the usual washing, cleaning, cooking, shopping – all of which take way more time here than they did in the states. I’m looking for a house-helper to help me with all of this but the process is a little slow. I should say it seems slow. I’ve been praying for the right house-helper for a year before we even came so I know there’s someone special out there for us. There are definite differences in how we raise children here so I’m looking for someone my kids will feel comfortable with and that won’t be trying to constantly give them chocolate or tell me to leave them alone, “they’re only playing” when Hannah is dragging Emmett around by the leg and he’s crying. I’ve used my skills as a nurse fairly regularly in conversations with neighbors and as they’ve asked me what I think they should do for various ailments. It seems that everyone has high blood pressure and it’s also really popular to give someone (even little babies) an IM injection of antibiotics when they’re sick so I’ve had lots of conversations about blood pressure and diet and proper use of antibiotics. I don’t think anyone has changed their practices because of a conversation they’ve had with me but I do hope that as they see how we live and treat illnesses, they’ll take note of what works for us. On the other side, there’s also a lot to learn from them about how to treat things. They are really adept at using mountain herbs for certain illnesses and many people try herbal remedies before anything else, trusting that our bodies are made to fend off illness and even get stronger after fighting a cold or something. I certainly don’t want to paint a picture that everyone is inept at healthcare, there’s just certain things that are astonishingly antiquated or wrong and other things that are impressively healthy.

So that’s the update for now. We just got our MagicJack working so if anyone is up for a phone call, let us know. From the states, morning and evening are better times as we are 10-12 hours ahead from most places.  I find myself wanting to call people but evening is the best time and I’m frequently so tired in the evening I feel like I couldn’t do a lot more talking, but I am hungry to just hear about life from everyone else. There’s at least three birth stories from friends I haven’t heard and I’m really looking forward to hearing them. Justine – I’d love to see some flamenco footage too if you have video uploaded somewhere. Signing out with lots of love to all of you who are reading this.

Finally a few pics

Here's a shout out to Nan for finding a great new camera for us and getting it to our friends from here who were visiting in Portland. They brought it back to Tajikistan to us and I'm so happy to finally be able to take some pictures again. Just a short update on the kids - Hannah is funnier than ever. How that happens, I don't know. She's doing great and picking up enough Tajik to be able to assert herself outside with the other kids. They think she's so cute and funny and subsequently want to pick her up and play with her all the time but she's almost three and in the "I can do it myself" mode and doesn't take kindly to this. The kids are (mostly) sweet and all the little girls are like mini-mommies already so they don't understand why she wouldn't want to be held and coddled. Needless to say, she picked up the Tajik equivalents of "NO!" "Don't!" and "that's not ok!" following closely behind these phrases are the words for "give it (to me)" "take it" "come here" and "candy." We haven't gotten any further with potty training and to be honest, I don't want to make it an issue so we're just waiting for her to show more interest. They really don't use diapers here so it's definitely an oddity for our almost three year old to still use them but that's one of the many reasons why I'm glad we came at this point in life because I care a lot less about what other people think about that and I'm not going to make her suffer for my embarrassment. Anyway, it seems that all the kids outside know Hannah and she's making friends. She had her first sleep over last month with the daughter of some friends of ours from Portland who live in another city here. Her name is also Hannah and they are 10 months apart and got along fantastic. They played and played. At one point we heard them laughing really hard in Hannah's room and our friend, Troy, said, "just watch, they're drawing all over the walls or something." We laughed then but that's exactly what they were doing. When confronted by the daddies, Hannah Renee (our Hannah is Hannah Joy) soberly told them that Hannah Joy had the red crayon and she had the purple one. Then her conscience got to her and she quickly confided, "but then we traded!" These friends just moved to a different city east of our city, up in the mountains, and we plan on visiting them there once they are settled and it gets hot here in our city. Emmett has been close to crawling for a month now (he's 9 months now). He goes backwards and sideways but not forward yet. Whether he's sitting or on all fours, he loves to rock and makes himself laugh doing that. He's eating solid food now, but is fairly particular in what he wants and makes it very clear when he doesn't like something - sealing his mouth shut and crossing his arms in front of his face while shaking his head "no." Applesauce tops his list and the neighbor girl, Farzona, who plays with Hannah during our Tajik lessons, comes every Saturday and helps me peel and chop fruits and veggies to make food for Emmett. Even though I made baby food in the states, I had a lot of freezer space (don't here) and could always use jarred food as a back-up. The jarred food was also nice when other fruits/veggies aren't in season. Anyway, enough about baby food - suffice it to say, it's a lot more work to feed a baby here but it's also super fresh too so it's probably good for him in the long run. He's making lots of sounds and continues to be a sweet, sweet baby and delights everyone he meets with his eager smile and how easy it is to make him laugh. As for Rees and I, we continue to plug away at the language but are encouraged by how much we are able to communicate and understand after being here for only four months. That say, we have a long way to go. Our Tajik family is doing well too. The new bride, Mauzuna, is pregnant and everyone is thrilled with this news. Dilafruz seems happier with her new baby now and even her husband, Hurshed, doesn't seem as disappointed to have a fifth daughter. She's beautiful, tiny and thriving. We've had various meals with different neighbors and I must say that if you have to be a stranger in a foreign land, this is a good one to be in. Our neighbors are super hospitable and most people are very patient with our Tajik. We may not have predictable electricity or water, but for now I think I'd rather be without some of these things (some times, at least :) and not be lonely than be in a home with reliable electricity and water, living far away from our loved ones, and not have any friends.

Winter finally came

We have had a fantastic winter here in Tajikistan. Until this week we've had more mild days than cold days and more sunshine than rain/snow. We've felt most days like it was fall or spring not winter. We've also had WAY more electricity than we anticipated. In winters past there was only a few hours of electricity every day (when there was electricity) and I'd say that we've averaged 23hrs of electricity a day. For the last week we've finally had winter - snow, cold and ice and subsequently spotty electricity. We were completely without for two days and when it came back our water didn't work. We live in a 4th floor apartment and have to use a motor to get water up to our apartment so when there's no electricity, we don't have running water. This would actually be more of an inconvience in the states since much of our lives there rely on convenience (ie: expecting water to come out of the faucet when we turn it on) and though it certainly isn't convenient here, it's normal and therefore the rhythm of life includes (actually revolves around) getting water every day. Our apartment "dues" are for the outdoor running water stations, the tandoor ovens and the sweeping of all the common grounds. No pool, work-out room and sauna here! :) We keep a large garbage can full of water for these kinds of situations and actually got to the bottom of the can this week. Rees hauled water in 3 or 4 trips with two buckets a trip up to our 4th floor home and we replenished our supply. If you stop and think about how much water you use every day, it's pretty impressive. Washing anything (clothes, dishes, hands, etc), cooking (including rinsing off veggies and stuff), flushing the toilet (if you don't have running water, even a flushing toilet won't flush), cleaning, etc. Even while preparing a meal that doesn't require any water, you frequently get something on your hands while you're preparing it and you can't just turn on the sink and rinse it off. All this to say, we have a great appreciation for how most of the world's population lives and how much time it takes just to live when you don't have an easy and reliable water source. We've read a fantastic book called "The Hole in Our Gospel" since being here and it spends a whole chapter talking about how having access to decent water is crucial to progress of any kind in any part of the world. Highly recommend this book whether or not you consider yourself a Christian. It may actually help you understand why we are here in a new way. I'm going on an on about this but that's not actually what I intended to blog about. Actually, I don't really remember what I was going to write about. I've sat down to write this post three times now. I got interrupted by about 4 different knocks at the door and a really awkward situation with a good friend of ours bringing his second wife (who we don't think is actually his wife. second wife here means in addition to the first, not instead of - a little different dynamic) over and thinking they could take a shower together in our shower all while the electricity guy was trying to get a bribe out of us (at least that's what we think was happening). All in all, we really didn't understand what was happening and sure as heck couldn't communicate well enough to convey everything we wanted to. I probably said, "Nameshavad!" (nah-meh-shavad) which more or less means, "not okay!" at least 10 times to everyone and we think our friend got the picture and the electricity guy said "mylee" (which means something akin to "ok" or "fine") but currently everyone in our building has electricity except us so maybe it wasn't all ok. The developing world sparks plenty of creativity though and we just hooked our electric line into our neighbor's. We're really thankful they're so generous. Don't worry, we are doing really well. Language continues to slowly build and improve and we continue to make friends and strengthen the relationships we have. Yesterday my neighbor who is two years older than me with 5 kids came over for the first time. I've been to her home probably 4 times but she's never come over to ours (two of her kids have). She lost her husband just after we moved in here and she was a second wife. She said she was feeling sad and thought she should just come sit with me. She has a lot of things to pay for and there's no such thing as life insurance here so without her husband she's in a tough situation. Even tougher because she's a second wife so all the customary gifts of money that people give when a husband dies went to the first wife. I was a little worried that she was going to ask me for money but she just wanted someone to think about options with and to brainstorm work options. Her only daughter, Farzona (she's about 10) comes every Mon, Wed and Fri to play with Hannah and keep her busy during our language lesson. It's a good informal language lesson for Hannah too. After talking to our friend and teammate Laura we decided to have Farzona help us out a bit more and pay her with stuff for school (paper, pens, etc), clothes for school and surplus food stuff. Money gets really tricky here. I'm too tired to really go into it but a lot of the "tricky-ness" comes from being a post-communist country. Anyway, that's where we are for now. I would include pictures but our camera broke 2 months ago. Nan found us a new one that our friends are bringing back from the states this weekend. Til then, I'm signing out.

pee-pee in the potty

Hannah went pee-pee in the potty! We are so proud of her! The look of accomplishment on her face when she did it was priceless. It's good to be headed in the direction of ditching the diapers for at least one of our kids (goodness me - they are expensive!). She was quick to show Little Doggie what she did and now he does it too (so she says). Of course, since we are in a land of pit toilets, the next day I let her practice squatting in the bathtub and peeing in the drain. Hey - she needs to know how to do both! So, if you all could give her a good cheer, that'll help the process along :)