Julia’s brain was now engaged and she really thought about that one. The fact was she really didn’t remember wetting every night. Some nights yes, and some days she had wet her diaper when she got out of bed. But not all of them. And not recently. She had just assumed that she was really tired and that was why she didn’t remember. I mean, she had a hard enough time waking up in the morning, so waking up in the middle of the night was really asking a lot. But her Mother seemed to be saying that she had actually wet the bed. That was a new thought. And now, thinking about it for the first time, Julia had to admit that it was at least possible. Huh. The look on her face must have given away what she was thinking

“I didn’t think so.” Shirley said. “Sweetie,” Shirley continued, “just yesterday you pooped your diaper in the middle of the grocery store.”

That remark caught her off guard, and Julia got a little bit indignant. She did remember what happened yesterday. What had happened was she had stopped caring when she used her diapers. She hadn’t done anything on purpose like her Mother seemed to be implying.

“Mother, that’s not really fair. I didn’t do it on purpose. I just couldn’t wait any longer!” Julia stammered.

“Julia, calm down. I know you didn’t do it on purpose, that’s my whole point.” Shirley took another deep breath and decided it was time to get down to it.

“Julia, listen.” Shirley began in her all business voice, “Here you are, in a wet diaper that you don’t even remember wetting. You regularly wet the bed, the nurse at school expects to change your diapers, Mrs Hayman expects to change your diapers, Becky knows you wear diapers, you’re pooping your pants whenever and wherever and you just joined a club of people who wear diapers. I know you started wearing diapers again by choice, and I know this all started out as something you were just trying because you wanted to see what it was like. But I think we are long past the ‘just seeing what it’s like’ point.

There was a pause and Shirley and Julia just looked at each other. On one level Julia could already see where this was going, but it was too much to accept. She thought about what her Mother was saying and it made sense but it just was so hard to fathom. The look of confusion on her face was obvious and the silence lasted for a moment before her Mother continued.

“Honey, what I meant is that I think it’s time to stop pretending that you don’t need to wear diapers.”

Julia was able to follow the logic of her Mother’s argument. Even though part of her saw what her Mother was saying, the reality of the situation was still not really sinking in.

“Wait, do you really think…” Julia started. “I mean, well…” Julia didn’t know what to say and her mind was still spinning based on what her Mother had said.

Shirley kept talking. “Julia, please correct me if I am wrong here, but as far as I can tell you are not potty trained anymore. Now I want to be clear, this isn’t just me playing around or joking or some part of ‘The Trying Policy’. I know we talked about everyone pretending that you were not potty trained when we first put you back in diapers. I said that as much for myself as for you. But I stopped pretending that was the case a while ago. And unless I am really mistaken, you haven’t been pretending either have you?”

“Pretending?” Julia asked, even though she already knew the answer.

“Julia,” Shirley said, pointing at Julia’s diaper, “tell me the truth, yes or no, do you have any idea when you wet your diaper?”

Julia had kind of waffled on the response last time, but she knew the answer. “No.” she finally admitted.

“I didn’t think so. Look Julia, I’m sorry. I made a mistake because I really didn’t think this was something we needed to talk about and I was obviously wrong. So, let’s have a serious and honest talk for a minute here. Obviously you used to be potty trained, OK?” Julia nodded her head in agreement. “Then a few weeks ago we put you back in diapers, per your request, so that you could see what it would be like to go back to wearing diapers again.” Julia nodded again. “And sometime soon after, I am not sure when it really started, but at some point you really got used to using your diapers. Now, I know there isn’t anything physically wrong with you that would make you have accidents. But I also know that you’re using your diapers all the time, and you’re not even always aware of it.”