Bed wetting is something we are very familiar with in our house. Brendan has struggled with the issue his entire life. He’s been on medication to help with the issue since he was 6. Even with the medication we occasionally have to deal with accidents overnight. At this point it’s just kindof a given. Brendan will get up in the morning and tell us he had an accident then head right for the shower. Meanwhile I go strip his bed and begin the arduous task of getting all the bedding washed. That’s it, no yelling, screaming or anything that would make him feel bad. Once in a while a sigh will escape my lips just because I hate changing soiled bedding, but it’s not like I blame Brendan. It’s just one of those things.
So a couple of days into Matt’s business trip the kids finally went back to school. I hadn’t done as well as I usually do over school breaks to keep the kids on schedule, and they’d been sleeping in a bit later than they should have been. So when Brendan’s alarm clock sounded at 6:45 they were not very keen to get out of bed. Especially since it was still pitch black outside.
But they did get up and Brendan wandered into my room to let me know he was up. At first he thought I wasn’t awake because I hadn’t turned my lamp on, but I had actually been up for a good 30-40 minutes at that point writing in my blog. He headed for their bathroom to take his shower and moments later Cameron appeared at my door. I greeted him and told him to go ahead and use my bathroom since Brendan was already in the shower. He stumbled toward my bed and requested a hug before going to the bathroom. I never turn down hugs from my kiddos, so after obliging him he made his way across the room to my bathroom.
Moments later he comes back out of the bathroom crying like his best friend had just died. I couldn’t figure out what could possibly be upsetting him that much and jumped out of my bed to comfort him. Through the sobs I finally distinguished the agonized cry of “I wet my bed.” Oh. Is that all? No big deal, right? Well to him it was a huge deal. Cameron hasn’t wet the bed since…well…ever. It took us a while to get him night trained, but once we did he really never had accidents. The kid is like a camel, he can wait for days it seems like before heading to the bathroom and when he goes it’s like a dam bursting forth.
As I crouched next to him trying to soothe him I wondered at the validity of his claim. If he’d really wet the bed wouldn’t he have noticed it the moment he woke up? Wouldn’t that have been the first thing he said to me when he appeared at my door? In the semi-darkness of the morning I couldn’t tell if his pants were wet or not since they were navy blue to begin with, and truthfully I didn’t really want to stick my hand down there to find out. I believed he really had wet pants, but was wondering if maybe he’d had an accident while trying to make it to the bathroom just then vs. having the accident overnight.
So we headed across the house to his bedroom and sure enough the sheets were wet, he’d definitely had an accident overnight. No matter what I said or how much I comforted him, Cameron was devastated that he’d wet the bed. With Brendan currently occupying the shower there wasn’t much more I could do for Cam until I could get him showered and into fresh clothes. He sat miserably on the floor waiting his turn to get into the shower and just looked completely pathetic.
Brendan, who takes a pretty fast shower, came out just a minute or two later dripping wet and wrapped in a towel. Since Matt’s been gone Brendan has been doing everything possible to push all of our buttons. He knows what annoys each of us and does all that he can to make those things happen. So, knowing his brother isn’t a morning person, he came out of the shower singing at the top of his lungs, “Good morning Cameron!!!!” Not wanting to embarrass poor Cameron further, I just put my arm around him and began to lead him to the shower while telling Brendan to leave him alone because he’d had a rough morning.
Cameron took his shower and I began setting out clothes for everyone. Once he was done I asked him if he felt better, and he nodded still looking rather forlorn. Just this once I didn’t yell at him for plopping himself down in the middle of the living room to get dressed. I figured that lecture could hold for one day. While he dressed I made my way into Kaylee’s room to see if I could rouse her out of her nest of blankets.
I came back out a few minutes later and caught the end of a conversation between the two brothers. All I heard was Brendan saying, “Don’t worry about it Cameron, I do it all the time.” Though I didn’t catch the actual conversation I caught the meaning. Cameron had told Brendan of his shameful mistake and for once in his life (praise the Lord!!) rather than poking fun at his brother, Brendan actually did what he could to comfort him as well. Brendan’s support evidently meant more than mine did because Cameron finally perked up a little bit.
The icing on the cake came when it was time to choose the breakfast cartoon. The kids have a schedule for who picks the cartoon each day of the week. Cameron picks on Monday’s and Thursday’s, Brendan on Tuesday’s and Friday’s, Kaylee on Wednesday’s and Saturday’s, and mommy or daddy on Sunday’s. We’ve had the schedule for so long that the kids know it by heart and have on occasion corrected me when I get messed up about what day it is or who picks on that day.
Since his accident happened on a Tuesday, Brendan should have picked the cartoon. But Brendan had already asked me if he could trade with one of his siblings later in the week so he could choose the cartoon on his birthday. So I said to Cameron that Brendan was willing to trade his day and let Cameron choose that morning since he’d had a rough morning. Brendan, catching on that this meant he’d get to choose on his birthday, agreed immediately and said he wanted to do something nice for Cameron.
Cameron couldn’t have been happier with that. Not only did he get to choose the cartoon two days in a row, but his older brother, who usually tries to walk all over him, specifically went out of his way to do something nice. At last cheered, Cameron took his place at the kitchen table and waited for his chosen cartoon to start.
Diary of a mom...grade 3 and beyond 