advertisement
-
Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
- read more
Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
- read more
mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
- read more
-
Right now, I'm dreaming about what it would be like to have a potty trained child. There would be no more diapers to change or wash, no more butts to wipe, no more stink coming from the diaper pail. Never again would my daughter sit on my lap, reminding me with her leaky diaper that I should have changed her an hour ago. Never again would I have to get frustrated because yet another diaper cover's Velcro has worn thin. It would be the end of washing peed in clothes and changing leaked on sheets if I had a fully potty trained daughter.
However, while a potty trained child is my dream, the potty training process has been a nightmare.
Charlotte will be starting Montessori school after the new year begins, and they really push potty training there. It's alright, because she's definitely ready. Her dad and I figured that we may as well give it a shot. We had some little training pants, and we'd love to have her out of diapers anyway. I remembered how easy it was to potty train Marc. It took a while because he needed constant reminding, but he did it without fuss. That's what was important.
But I keep forgetting: Charlotte is not Marc.
The training pants were nice the first time, but she peed through them anyway. The next time I tried to convince her to wear them, it went a little like this:
ME: Don't you want to wear your pretty new undies? Look, they have butterflies!
LOTTE (kicking her feet uncontrollably): UNH UNH! UH UH MOMMM! UNNH!
ME: Now stop, Charlotte! Don't you want to be a big girl like Mommy?
LOTTE (still kicking, shaking her head back and forth): UNH UUUUUNH!
ME (crying after Lotte's foot hit my jaw): Now where's those diapers?Later that week, I tried the naked method. I don't reccommend this unless you enjoy wet spots on your carpet, and the kitchen floor, and the bottoms of your feet because you found a wet spot on your carpet or kitchen floor with your socks on.
Then, we gave up. It was Christmas, anyway, and Grandma was visiting. Diapers were just easier. Charlotte is a young two-year-old, so maybe we ought not rush it. "We'll try again after the New Year," her father and I declared.
But I think I've underestimated my youngest's ability to understand the potty process. I think she's been understanding and able all along. She is a stubborn, willful child, to be sure. We learned that almost right away. I should have known this wouldn't be a simple, tantrum-free, journey to diaper freedom like it was with Marc. Marc is my laid back, easy going child. Charlotte? She does things on her own terms.
Which brings me to today. She woke up in a diaper, of course. On a whim, I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty, and she did. She did! And she peed in it, too!
And then we did the potty dance together! I dumped the little potty into the big potty, we washed our hands, and neither of us wore a diaper for the rest of the day!
After that, she volunteered to go of her own accord. She had only one accident, and even went with me to the post office and the bank in nothing but padded undies and a pair of pants. We had a birthday dinner for my husband with his dad and she peed in the bathrooms at the restaurant. Twice!
Never in my life have I been this excited about pee.
I hope I'm not jinxing it by writing this blog. I hope I'm not jumping the gun by thinking I'll have a potty trained Lotte by New Year's Day. But I can't help myself. My nightmare is ending and my dreams are coming true. Think of all the water we'll save by not washing diapers! Think of all the soap we'll save by not having to wash our hands after washing those nasty diapers!
What are some of your potty training adventures? Today, Lotte insisted on emptying her potty into the big potty by herself. There was nothing I could do except mop up the mess later. Potty training a toddler is gross, but it's definitely worth it in the end!
Hooray for Lottie and you! For my 15 year old her big AHA moment was the possibility of not being in the same room as her BF in daycare--the wonders of peer pressure!Yep, kids can be different. when one is easy the other is difficult. Today was a good day but expect a few bad ones. As you say she is a young two. That is pretty early for some. For my own adventures. When Dale was a little over two we were doing pretty good, then we went out of town for the weekend. Before we knew it he back slid and wouldn't use the potty at all. So we took a break for a few weeks. Before we knew it he figured it all out. I think he was done just over 2 1/2.Remember to do the calendar. Check marks, stars you draw (or she can draw). Try "One more step to being older like Marc." or "People who use the potty get to sit here. Those who wear diapers have to sit there." Teaching potty can seem like forever. A year from now, it'll be history. Seems like it was only last month she was just a few weeks old, wow, two years!
May 2013 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Tagsmotherhood (12)
school (10)
family (9)
parenting (7)
growing up (6)
fibromyalgia (5)
birthday (4)
bullies (4)
kids (4)
toddlers (4)
anxiety (3)
divorce (3)
normal (3)
stress (3)
video games (3)
accident (2)
awesome (2)
baseball (2)
brother (2)
children (2)
christmas (2)
chronic illness (2)
death (2)
er (2)
hair (2)
holidays (2)
life (2)
love (2)
money (2)
news (2)
nintendo (2)
obama (2)
presents (2)
recycling (2)
religion (2)
siblings (2)
sick (2)
son (2)
taxes (2)
tradition (2)
unemployment (2)
valentine (2)
writing (2)
9/11 (1)
acting (1)
adrenal insufficiency (1)
adult (1)
advice (1)
afentra (1)
affirmation (1)
alone (1)
american (1)
animal control (1)
animal rights (1)
april fools (1)
attacks (1)
aunt (1)
babies (1)
babysitting (1)
backyard (1)
bad day (1)
bedtime (1)
bin laden (1)
bionicle (1)
birth (1)
body (1)
bonding (1)
brothers (1)
busy mom (1)
calm (1)
car (1)
car theft (1)
car trouble (1)
carnival (1)
casey anthony (1)
caterpillars (1)
cel phone (1)
celebration (1)
celebrities (1)
changes (1)
charity (1)
chicken (1)
classroom (1)
cleanliness (1)
clothes (1)
clothing (1)
clutter (1)
co parenting (1)
co sleeping (1)
comicon (1)
community (1)
competition (1)
confession (1)
dad (1)
dating (1)
daughter (1)
dead animal (1)
deals (1)
debate (1)
debt (1)
decisions (1)
decorations (1)
depression (1)
diapers (1)
dinner (1)
disconnect (1)
diverticulitis (1)
doctor (1)
doctor who (1)
doctors (1)
dollhouse (1)
drama (1)
ds (1)
easter (1)
education (1)
election (1)
employment (1)
espresso (1)
facebook (1)
families (1)
family bed (1)
fantasy (1)
faq (1)
fat (1)
fears (1)
feminism (1)
fever (1)
fifth grade (1)
filing (1)
finances (1)
first (1)
friend (1)
fun (1)
gay (1)
gay marriage (1)
geek (1)
global (1)
goals (1)
god (1)
good moms (1)
goodbye (1)
grades (1)
graffiti (1)
gratitude (1)
groceries (1)
grown-up (1)
guns (1)
haircut (1)
halloween (1)
handmade (1)
happiness (1)
happy thoughts (1)
hard times (1)
hate (1)
high school (1)
hip (1)
holiday (1)
home (1)
home alone (1)
honesty (1)
hunger (1)
hurricane (1)
internet (1)
interviews (1)
jobs (1)
joke (1)
joplin (1)
judgement (1)
karma (1)
kcmo (1)
lake (1)
lawyers (1)
lgbtq (1)
liberal (1)
libya (1)
louisburg (1)
mini van (1)
miniature (1)
minimalism (1)
moderation (1)
momless (1)
montessori (1)
motehrhood (1)
museum (1)
nag (1)
nanowrimo (1)
neighbors (1)
new car (1)
new year (1)
new york (1)
newtown (1)
nothing (1)
novel (1)
obsession (1)
occupy wall street (1)
occupykc (1)
ogres (1)
older (1)
organizing (1)
ozarks (1)
paintball (1)
paranoia (1)
parking lot (1)
pasta (1)
peaceful (1)
pee (1)
pencils (1)
permission (1)
perspective (1)
persuasive (1)
politics (1)
positivity (1)
potty training (1)
poverty (1)
practical (1)
prayer (1)
president (1)
principles (1)
prison (1)
puberty (1)
public (1)
pumpkin patch (1)
questions (1)
raccoon (1)
radio (1)
rage (1)
rainbow (1)
real life (1)
recipe (1)
remembering (1)
renaissance festival (1)
resolutions (1)
restaurants (1)
roller coaster (1)
romney (1)
router (1)
royals (1)
sadness (1)
sahm (1)
salesmen (1)
sandwich (1)
sandy (1)
sauce (1)
self esteem (1)
serotonin (1)
sharing (1)
shooting (1)
shopping (1)
single (1)
sister (1)
sleep (1)
slumber party (1)
spaghetti (1)
sports (1)
spring (1)
spring break (1)
spying (1)
star trek (1)
star wars (1)
state fair (1)
storm (1)
style (1)
super mom (1)
superheroes (1)
tantrums (1)
teachers (1)
teaching (1)
teasing (1)
temperance (1)
ten (1)
texting (1)
thanksgiving (1)
threats (1)
three (1)
tiger mom (1)
time (1)
tired (1)
toddler (1)
tornado (1)
trash (1)
tv (1)
vacation (1)
vacuum cleaner (1)
video (1)
violin (1)
visit (1)
voting (1)
war (1)
warming (1)
wifi (1)
wohm (1)
women (1)
wow (1)
zelda (1)
zen (1)