Recently, while driving my 5-year-old son to a swimming lesson, I was caught off guard by his surprising revelation, “I can’t wait to pee in the pool.”  Say what??  Did my child really just say that?  Surely I misunderstood.  He’s raised right.  Trained to say “please” and “thank you,” as well as eat his veggies.  There’s no way he pees in the pool … is there?

Hoping he’d simply uttered some variation of, “I can wait to BE in the pool,” I asked for clarification.  Nope.  I heard it correctly the first time.  He confessed that he thinks it feels good to pee in the water and enjoys that it’s the only time he can pee in his pants without anyone noticing.

I appreciated his honesty, but had less than two miles of travel time to correct his behavior.

I asked him to bear that fondness in mind the next time he got water in his eyes or in his mouth.  And for him to further bear in mind the possibility of what would happen if everyone at the pool were to share his philosophy.  Does he want eyes full of pee?  Does he want to swallow his own and everyone else’s pee?  I watched his face carefully in the rearview mirror as I spoke to him and was pleased to see his eyes widen in horror and disgust before he quickly said it’d be super gross to drink pee.

I’m not sure my approach is child psychologist approved.  But in my own personal experience with young children, it tends to work best if the consequences of their actions can be demonstrated to affect them directly.  Other people drinking his pee?  Possibly quite funny and incentive to pee more frequently.  But the possibility that if others share his philosophy, he’d be drinking their pee was enough to scare him straight to the bathroom.  He’s now quite diligent about using the restroom before getting into the pool.  Without me even having to ask. 

Surely I’m not the only parent who has had to confront this issue with their child.  At least that’s what I tell myself.  Peeing in the pool may not be as uncommon as we’d like to hope.  Olympic swimmer and 14-time gold medalist Michael Phelps admitted to peeing in the pool while a guest on The Jimmy Kimmel Show and various online sources report that 17% of American adults pee in the pool.  Adults –- not kiddies!

How have you addressed this issue in your home?  Either successfully or unsuccessfully.  Serious, funny or just plain gross, all tales and tips are welcome.