Pants-Free Parenting: Dealing with the fart, giggle stage requires celebration?

A few days ago my children hit a milestone: That moment when they are in control of their bodily noises to the extent that they can annoy me with them.

Previously, whenever I heard a farting sound, I immediately assumed that someone needed to be changed or rushed to the toilet. It's been this way for the past four years. My maxim has always been: 'The poop you hear is the poop you fear.” But on our way to school, I heard a loud fart noise and I immediately asked. 'Who pooped? Who needs to go potty?” My questions were met with giggles.

'I did it,” my 4-year-old said proudly. 'I farted with my mouth.”

'Me too!” My 2-year-old chimed in and then he blew a raspberry. Since that day, almost every hour of my parenting has been marked by fake burps, fake farts and a lot of giggles. I think I've just hit a next level and I don't really know how to celebrate, except maybe with some whiskey and earplugs. It's not a milestone that is included in baby books or discussed in parenting manuals, but a milestone nonetheless. It marks a certain bodily awareness and control, previously out of their reach. And it makes me think about the other milestones we will reach one day, that are not often celebrated but still very important. For example, the day I no longer have to carry diapers and wipes with me wherever I go, or the day we can run an errand without also taking along a pound of Goldfish crackers and beverages. There also will be the day when I don't have to chase anyone around the house for 20 minutes begging them to put on pants. Or the day my parents look forward to, when no one asks them for money.

Parents often mark, walking, talking and learning to drive a car as memorable milestones, but for me as a parent it's always been the little things - the day my son stopped peeing on me when I changed his diaper, the day I realized I hadn't been spit-up on in at least two months - these little things have always been more of a measure of my days than any one big event.

This is because, like parenting, they creep up on you. I remember the day my mom, who had eight children, called me crying because she was going on vacation and realized that for the first time in almost 25 years, she didn't need to pack a diaper bag. I was happy for her, but she was distraught. 'I'm going to miss it!” she said. I didn't believe her at the time.

But now, as I realize that the 'poops I fear” days will soon be leaving me, I understand. These milestones mark an ambivalence that is a hallmark of parenthood. We are at once glad not to be crapped upon, but also wistful because with its passing comes the passing of baby lisps, chubby wrists, and easy snuggles. (Snuggling a toddler is like wrestling a bag of snakes, let's just be honest here.)

And I will also be glad when this phase of fake farting ends. Although, if my siblings and I are any indicators, I don't think it ever ends.

' Lyz Lenz is a writer, mother of two and hater of pants. Email her at eclenz@gmail.com or find her writing at LyzLenz.com.