You really have a way about you, bud. You definitely know what you like and what you don’t like. You really like to tell mom and me what to do (not that it works, but it’s really adorable). There’s a sweater that mom wears sometimes when she’s cold and the other day you threw a tantrum because she wasn’t wearing it. We’re sorry we laughed so hard – it was impossible not to. Then there are the times when I come home from working out in the morning and you’re upset that I wasn’t there when you woke up, so you tell me to leave. Cute. As your mom and me say all the time, you’ve got ideas and opinions.

One of the really cool things about you being in preschool is that you’re around other kids who are around your age. The older ones are potty trained, for the most part, and you’ve been incredibly stubborn about your own potty training (this comes as no surprise to me – ideas and opinions, remember?) For a while, you’d been doing great – going to the bathroom several times a day and using only one diaper for most of the day. Progress! Lately though, you’ve been refusing to go to the bathroom. We know that you’re just trying to control what you can – you always go at school, just not with us. I’m not going to lie – it’s frustrating. I started thinking about how you should just let go and let it flow. Then I realized that that was good advice, not just for the potty, but for life.

I’d be lying if I said that I was proficient at this. Your mom, on the other hand, is excellent at it and I’m learning from her every single day. Here’s the thing: you’re a lot like me in that respect. Whether I’m conscious of it or not, I try to control almost everything around me. I could go into all of the reasons why I am this way, but it doesn’t serve the purpose of this post.

Bud, things are so much easier if you just go with the flow. Life happens and you need to just roll with things, or it can get really ugly. When you fight what is, you’re missing out on what could be. And life can be beautiful if you just let it be.

Whether that means going to the bathroom (for you now, though I realize the silliness of this), or not getting upset when things don’t go as planned (for when you actually read this). Just go with the flow.

Trust me, you’ll be much happier.

Love ya, kid!