Potty Training

Let's be clear about 2 things from the beginning. I do not claim to be an expert on potty training, and my daughter has always proven to transition well. I can not take credit for that.

With those things out of the way, here's my story.

I had a baby. Well, 2, but that's beside the point. When my oldest was 19 months, my youngest was born. At that time it seemed like all of my oldest's friends' moms were beginning to talk about potty training...at 19 months! I stated firmly and repeatedly, "I'm just not ready for that and neither is she". Okay, mostly I wasn't ready to take her to the bathroom every 30 minutes while trying to feed the other one every 2 hours.

So, the extent of our potty training came down to buying her a potty (around 18 months) and putting it where she could see it in the bathroom. (I did stash some Elmo underpants away, just in case). Over the next year, she peed in it a couple times and pooped once...all mostly by accident. We were determined not to potty train until we felt like she was truly ready (helpful advice from a very wise lady I like to call "mom").

About the time the baby was 9 months old, my husband took a new job about an hour and 15 minutes away and began commuting while we attempted to sell our house.

Our house sold (thank God) and with no house on the horizon, we began to pack up for a move to my father-in-law's house. That is conversation for another day.

One evening, my daughter was asking a lot of questions about the potty. She clearly knew what it was for, but was unsure about it's exact place in her life. The next morning I woke up with a vague thought to potty train her. And so it happened, as it often does in my life, that the day had arrived.

I had heard stories of friends potty training their kids and was not looking forward to it. I had also heard of just putting them in underpants and letting her guide the process. Seeing as how I don't like charts and anything very difficult, and I only had 3 days before our house was to be overcome by boxes, I determined to do it.

When she woke up, I surprised her with her new underpants and off we went. We had wood floors, a bucket full of towels, and blind-stupidity. And somehow, it worked! I spent the first day and a half following her around with a stopwatch and the potty. After only a few accidents, I realized she got it. The stopwatch became a source of contention, so I let it go. After that, I did remind her often, but didn't force her to sit down unless we needed to go somewhere (which we didn't do for 3 days) or she was walking around on tiptoes (her tell-tale sign she needed to go).

Yes, we had pee on the floor. Yes, we had poop in the underwear. But since we started, I can count the number of times this happened on my hands.

She was ready, even though she never said so. I just knew my kid well enough to know that she was smart enough to get it.

It was definitely not easy. She is still in pull-ups at nap and bedtime (and I have no thoughts as to when we will begin to phase that out, but I'm hoping to live in my own house by then). Both mom and daughter have had good cries and a few meltodowns (yes, both of us). But, it is done.

And, as often her around our house, "Annabelle, do you need to go potty?".

Her favorite response, "Nope, not quite yet."