The thing about boys is that basically I have no idea about most things related to them, most obviously at the moment – the toilet training. With the girls I found it quite straightforward, they sit on the toilet, when they have an accident you clean them up, sit them on the toilet and let them know what they’re supposed to do when they go. For my Muddy boy though, it’s been a whole different kettle of fish, from standing on the grass, to sitting on the toilet, to standing on a step at the toilet, none of which have had any success!

The hardest part though has been the peer pressure from his sisters ‘Do you want to go?’, ‘shall we go to the toilet and try’, ‘do you want me to take you’, ‘can I get you some undies to wear?’ and on and on the questions and badgering come from them and in his efforts to please them he goes and has a try, but I think he’s even more confused than when we first started.

Our other challenge comes from him climbing on or over everything he can find, we found him swinging from the wool platform at the shearing shed the other day, with no idea of how he got there. While I love his independence and his amazing differences to his sisters, he continues to be a mystery to me in so many ways.

I am grateful for any advice on raising boys, particularly the toilet training, which is proving to limit our social outings!