So Penny is sitting on the potty, playing with the shower curtain and generally doing anything except, y'know, what one is supposed to be doing on the potty.

It's a scene we've had several times over the last few days, and she's not successful very often, though the average is improving slightly. "I need help!" she tells me sometimes. Also, "It's stuck!"

I try to encourage her, but how do you explain to someone how to pee? Especially someone with a 3-year-old's vocabulary? "Squeeze your tummy," I tell her, and "Push it out."

But tonight, she's not really that interested in even trying. After I stop her from wrapping the shower curtain around herself, she says, "I wanna cookie."

I nod knowingly. Who doesn't want a cookie, after all? "Only if you pee in the potty," I tell her.

"Okay," she chirps. Fsssssssss...