What Success Looks Like

When it comes to potty training and blogging, parents seem to take one of two roads: The high road being that they don't want to risk someday embarrassing their children so they leave out the details and simply say, "Mission accomplished" or not. Others divulge too much information in the interest of documenting their trials.

I come from a long line of embarrassing parents. In fact, in my family it's practically a rite of passage! That being said, I won't bore you with too many of the crappy details (pun intended) but instead I'll just give the short version.


We started potty training Baby Girl shortly after her third birthday. She had been having some constipation issues and our pediatrician recommended that we wait until those resolved before we pushed the issue. She was wrong. Turns out, she didn't really like to have that sh*t right next to her butt and was much happier when she could flush it. Success! She was dry after a few days and was even waking up in the middle of the night to go (a HUGE step for someone her age, considering the family tendency towards bed-wetting). She would hold it until her eyes were yellow when we were in the car pool situation (an hour and a half - roundtrip).
And then something went wrong. I think the change in routine of school being out and my surgery disrupted her focus. She decided that it was much more convenient to tinkle in her underwear than to try to make it to the bathroom. And so we instituted a method that has worked for us in the past: BRIBERY. Since she and her brothers had started watching commercial television, she has been asking for a pillow pet. Sometimes the unicorn, sometimes the hippo, but she asked approximately every 3.2 minutes. All.day.long.

We started a potty chart with princesses and happy face stickers. Once it was full, she could have the pillow pet of her choosing. That look on her face? Pride and absolute bliss. She hasn't let it our of her sight since it "come in the mail" on Thursday.

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Because I suck at transitioning from one topic to another and I find it cumbersome to post 2 posts in one day, I'll just tack this on here. My Grandma E is currently in the ICU after open-heart surgery (valve replacement). She's doing well, with one mostly minor setback but it's not easy on her (obviously. duh.) or on the family because she's in a Big City hospital about an hour from her home. If you think of it, offer up a prayer or two. I believe in the power of prayer. I'll offer updates as they come.