She is not like Grant. She plays quietly with dolls, cuddles easily, and hates being dirty. She has transitioned out of diapers and pees easily on the potty.
The man walks through the kitchen into the hall. A noise from the half bathroom at the end causes him to turn. She is sitting on the tiny potty without having being told. Her face is red and she is grunting.
“Are you pooping?”
“Shhh.”
She finishes and he moves quickly to help wipe her bum.
“This is great, Lucia! Great job!”
“No, it’s not.”
“It’s great! Congratulations! Do you want ice cream for pooping on the potty?”
She looks at the potty.
“That’s disgusting.”
“No, it’s great! You did really well!”
“No, it’s disgusting. Get rid of it.”
“Ok.”
He reaches for the potty and dumps the contents into the toilet.
“Do you want ice cream now?”
“No, that was disgusting.”
For the next year, she will work as hard as she can not to poop, often going two weeks in between. She will have suppositories inserted and defeat those. Only after she poops in a pool at a swimming lesson and Lauren tells her that she can’t swim again until she poops on the potty will she relent.
The Living and the Dead, by Gordon Laws 