Choose Your Words Carefully

Potty training is not on the top of our agenda, even though Little One is clearly showing signs that she could be ready. We're gearing up for vacation and there ain't nobody going on this trip who wants to spend 75% of it looking for a potty. We'll be packing diapers, thankyouverymuch.

BUT. That doesn't mean we would be adverse to the idea if, say, she did it herself like her big brother, Youngest Boy. The kid woke up one day and said, "I'm going to use the potty now." And hasn't looked back. Not once. We talk about it often usually saying, "Big girls go on the potty, right, Little One?" This is followed by nodding on her part while she squats herself down in the dining room and does her business (I don't ask why there but ALL of the kiddos have done it).

After baths on Sunday night I made a feeble attempt at getting her to try to tinkle on the potty chair. Both Baby Girl and I told her, "Big girls go on the potty!" She sat for a second (mind you, she's buck naked as she just got out of the tub), then stood up - quick as a flash - closed the lid, climbed ON the potty...and peed. YAY! Or not.

Choose your wording carefully. We now say, "The pee goes IN the potty, right, Little One?" {SIGH}

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.

Timing Is Everything

I started out at this whole "mommy" thing as an amateur (don't we all?) so in order to educate myself I read. A lot. There are books that go from one extreme of parenting to the other and I've read quite a few. One subject that they all seem to agree on in at least ONE way is potty-training. Nearly every expert agrees that you should NOT start the potty training process when there's a big change that's about to occur. They all give the same two examples - such as, moving or A NEW BABY! We are, dear readers, about to have a new baby. Apparently, no one told Baby Girl that she has to wait to use the potty (and apparently my Aunt Jo doesn't know this rule either, because she bought her a potty training book. I'm holding her personally responsible :)

When I was at the pediatrician with Youngest Boy this past week, Aunt Jo read Baby Girl her new book and then my daughter proceeded to produce on the potty (2 drops) for the first time. Great news! Unless you really don't want to be potty training right now. Really. Don't get me wrong, it would be Great! Fantastic! to only have one child in diapers, but the logistics of potty training while eleventy months pregnant are putting a damper on my enthusiasm. That, and the fact that the "experts" warn that she'll surely regress once Baby #4 appears, making all efforts in vain. So, what do I do? Proceed as if nothing unusally is about to occur and hope for the best? Put it off as long as humanly possible in the hopes that I'll only have to do it once instead of twice? What?

And she does show all of the signs. Yesterday, she took her diaper off in the living room, went into the playroom and produced both #1 and #2 on the floor. She had also taken her diaper off sometime during the night and was SOAKING WET when I went to get her up in the morning. Nice. She took her diaper off this morning when it was wet - and as far as I can tell she didn't, uh, leave any deposits anywhere. So she's ready. I'm not. HELP!