“I don't have to go potty,” I tell mother in a whisper. But she makes me sit there until I do. All the kids are running around, playing games, jumping rope and screeching with laughter. It sounds as if there are hundreds of them. But there's not. Just a few cousins and neighborhood kids. All of the adults are inside. They are so tall. They stand there chatting amongst themselves, standing over me as if I weren't there. An occasional worried glance from mother checking to see if I am still sitting, and probably wondering why I would rather sit than join the others at play.

I don't like sitting in this kitchen with its oddly printed carpet. It's making me dizzy. I can see the little mounds of gum tucked away under the kitchen table. I didn't put them there, but I wonder who did. The light blue walls are scuffed with chair marks from around the table. The shade tree outside casts sparkles of sunlight with every breeze through the kitchen window and still I sit.

It's lunch time now. Someone has cooked hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. Mother scooches my potty chair over a little so that the kids can gather around the table to pick up plates with chips, pickles and buns waiting to be filled with the scrumptious grilled meat. She hands me a prepared plate. “You have to eat your lunch on the pot,” she says with a scowl. I give her my sad little munchkin face and still I sit.

So much time has gone by. It seems quieter now around the house. I am all alone on my pot in the kitchen. Most everyone is in the recreation room watching something on television. Every now and then someone will pass through the kitchen and ask, “Are you still sitting there? Why don't you just go potty?” I shrug my shoulders and still I sit.

Mother is on her knees in front of me. “Ok, lets check to see if you've pottied,” she says with a smile. I try to stand up but my legs are weak from sitting all day in the same little place. Mother lifts me up, pulls up my underpants and checks the pot. It's empty. I feel a sudden warmth running down my legs. A stinging sensation soon follows. I've made peepee and mother has spanked my butt. “You are so stubborn,” she yells. I am dragged to the bathroom cleaned up and put in the room with the other children. Finally, I get to play, jump rope and screech with laughter.