Five years ago, if you would have told me the time I might spend talking to my two year old about not using potty words, much less PRAYING about it, I would have laughed at you.  However, such is my life these days.

When I say potty words, I don't mean curse words.  I literally mean potty words: poopy head, pooty, etc.  Lana has a friend at preschool who has introduced her to these words, and together, they find them hilarious.  

Lana is always so honest - on the way home from preschool, I'll ask her who she played with, she always names this friend, and then she usually tells us that they used potty words on the playground.  Her teacher never even has to tell us - she tells on herself!  We have talked and talked and talked about this.....about how potty words stay in the bathroom, and about how she should honor her teachers by obeying them, even when her friend is encouraging her to make foolish choices.

About a week ago, I told her that if she couldn't make wise choices with this friend, then she couldn't play with her at school.  We talked about choosing friends who help her make wise choices.  It made her so sad not to play with her best friend, but she obeyed.  Her teacher said she was so diligent about avoiding this friend all day long.  It made an impression on her, because she came home talking about how she wanted to play with her friend, so she would make wise choices from now on.

This morning on the way to school, we talked about it again.  This time we did a little role-playing, and practiced what she could say to her friend when she started using potty words.  Before we got out of the car to go into preschool, we prayed for God to help her make good choices even when it's hard.

Here's how our afternoon conversation went in the car:

Lana: Mommy, I played with my friend today at school, and she used potty words.

Rachael: She did?!  And what did you do, Lana?

L: I made wise choices and didn't use potty words!!  I did a good choice, mommy!

R: I'm so happy about that, Lana!  You honored Mommy and God by obeying.  What did you do instead of using potty words?

L: I told my friend not to those potty words, but she did it again.

R: Okay....

L: And then I told her did she want to go to time-out???  And she stopped!

We had a big celebration about how she spurred her friend on to make wise choices, and about what blessing that was.  We prayed and thanked God for answering our prayers that morning.  She was so proud to come home and tell her Daddy about her good day.

Dan & I have talked about this more than I'd like to think about, and we feel strongly that this isn't just about Lana using words like poopy-head.  It's about her tendency to follow someone who is making a choice she knows is not right.  It's the kindness of God that he's allowed us to see this in Lana at such a young age.  We pray hard about this, and talk with her often about pleasing God and not her friends.  We really are grateful that we've been allowed to see this in her, and work on discipling this area of her heart.