“My niece,” Tina said. “Mary.”
“How old is she?”
“Three.” Leah was a bit perturbed she was now expected to respond to a name that wasn’t hers, but glad that Tina lied about her age. “She’s been working really hard on her potty training, but it’s not really sticking.”
“I’m guessing that means you want her in the potty training program?” the receptionist asked.
“Yep.”
“All right. Let me get her all signed up, then you can drop her off.” The receptionist and Tina chatted as Leah was signed in. “Done!”
“Great. Come on, Mary!” Tina brought Leah deeper into the daycare, past the main play area. “The potty training program is for kids who are getting too old for diapers, who are having difficulty with potty training, or both.”
“But why are you putting me in it?”
“Because you clearly need it. You didn’t think I brought you to daycare just so that you could wear a diaper for the rest of your life, did you? I brought you here so that you could get the lessons you need to get back to normal.” They came to a stop outside a room with a sign on it indicating it was the potty training room.
“Hello!” chirped the daycare worker in the room, when Tina opened the door. Tina smiled.
“Hi, Clara. This is my niece, Mary. She’s having some issues with potty training, so her parents were hoping you might be able to work your magic on her.”
“I’ll do my best,” Clara said cheerfully, taking Leah from Tina. Tina left.
As the day’s lessons began, Leah thought about what she was going to do. She hadn’t actually lost her potty training, after all. She was just pretending. She controlled how well the class was going to work.