As many of you may know, I have recently decided to venture into the world of potty training with my 26 month old daughter. Part of my reasoning, as I can now announce proudly, is that another tiny little bundle of pooping and peeing joy will be joining our family in the fall, and I ain't buyin' no two sets of diapers.
And so, armed with a pdf copy of the Three Day Potty Training Method, a bag of pull ups, about 20 pairs of tiny underpants, a printed potty success chart, star stickers and various dollar toys, and a very pink, very special Abby Cadabby "big girl" potty, I began last Friday morning with a twinkle of optimism in my eyes.
And then the pee started.
The first accident was shortly after her morning milk, and it didn't. even. phase her. She just peed standing in the den watching curious george, none the wiser of the liquid mess running down her legs. With the warmth of what I can only assume was someone else's much more patient mother possessing my body, I smiled at her and said "That's ok. Let's get you some dry undies." and I got to business cleaning up the mess with a few paper towels.
The rest of the morning continued much in this manner, with me basically following her around saying 100 times "Remember to tell Mommy when you need to go potty," and her continuing to ignore me completely and pee everywhere. By the time hubs got home for his lunch break, I was about to break down. I told him about the pee. The pee everywhere. The paper towels filling in the trash cans, the stack of dirty undies growing in the laundry. He got the gist of it when I continued to pump her full of juice and water for the "learning opportunities," and she had about 5 more accidents in the hour he was home. By that evening, I had already done laundry once that day, and was gathering it up to start the next day.
As I was opening the fridge door to figure out what she was going to eat for dinner (my most hated mother task) I managed to scrape my thumb against the freezer door. Before I knew it, a very loud profanity had left my mouth, and I stood there - defeated. I quietly walked into the playroom adjoining our kitchen, sat on the couch, and began weeping. Not crying. Weeping. I was done. I quit. I just wanted to put her in a pull up and call it a night.
Thankfully, it was about that time, so that's exactly what I was able to do. I posted my findings on facebook, and got encouraging words, and a few "drink some wine!" remarks. If only. Unfortunately I was three days away from me being able to spread our new baby joy so I couldn't drink any wine and I couldn't tell people why.
The next morning I woke up, and despite my resistance, I put her in a fresh pair of undies. The morning started much like the last, only this time I wasn't so caught off guard by the struggle, so I handled it better. Plus Chris was home, being Saturday, so I had help with the reinforcement. To my surprise, shortly after her first accident, I heard "Go potty 'gain." So I rushed her to the potty, pulled down the undies and there it was -glorious success. And then - the more miraculous thing - we had SEVEN more successes after that. I was floored. Was this working? Was she really starting to get it? Was I dead and in Heaven?
Not to say day two was a breeze. We still had more than our share of paper towels thrown away, and we did have one horrible green poop incident that I won't detail. I guess the stress had really gotten to her. But that night, I gave her her bath, and we danced in her room after like we always had. Everything seemed a little lighter. We had made progress.
Day three was almost identical to day 2. I won't bore you with the details except to say this: That night after bath time, as we were dancing, she suddenly stopped, and said "go potty!" She then ran to her own potty and sat down and went. Not a drop was spilled. I thought I was going to wake the neighbors with how loud I praised her. And I can proudly say that she's had several instances since where she has stopped what she was doing to go use the potty.
We're not out of the woods. It's been 5 days, after all. But I can say that we have not had to do laundry today, and we have not used a diaper since Thursday night. I am so proud of my big girl. I really believe this method is the best way - even if you end up weeping on the playroom couch.
Because you gotta get a little uncomfortable. And as a friend said to me, "Remember. She's been peeing and pooping in her pants her whole life. This is a big change."
And by God, if you are able to, stock up on wine or whatever you drink of choice. Fortunately, I did have the good sense to buy a family size pack of double stuffed oreos before I tried this.
Good luck to all of you potty training moms out there! It will all come together eventually.
Happy Tuesday!
Love,
Dominique
