come potty with me... part two

You may remember our jump on the potty brigade? Well it's been about 2 months since we introduced Pull-Ups and the potty to Spaghetti. With the mild coercion from her school (okay, not mild, they forced us and we gave in) Spaghetti has been intermittently using her potty. To be quite honest, Pretty Pants and I haven't been putting in a 110% into the whole potty training thing only bringing her to her potty every couple hours or so when we remember instead of the advised one time every hour. Ah well.

Since Spaghetti had started potty training she also switched daycares (she now goes to daycare at the same school as the Meatball). My husband and I didn't inquire on their position on potty training. We figured we'd ask once she got a little more acclimated. However, last week, we got the the note. Please bring 5 pants, 5 pairs of socks and 5 panties for next week. Next week?!? Again, my anxiety shot through the roof! I thoroughly hate potty training. It took about forever (well not forever but awhile) to potty train the Meatball. I once had a puppy and had no patience in potty training him either, 13 year later the poor dog is still semi-potty trained. So when I got the note and when the provider asked, "Do you want to start tomorrow or wait until next week?" Of course, I responded, "Next week, I'm totally fine with next week, thanks."

I've already shared the reasons to my anxiety towards potty training. It seemed like Spaghetti picked up on my anxiety (or she's just brilliant) because as she watched me prepare her potty training supply. She quickly grabbed a panty and yelled, "I want to wear this!" Totally taken by surprise, I said, "What? You want to wear this, now?" She nodded her head in excitement and started to pull off her pants and Pull-Ups. I asked in hesitation, "Are you sure you don't want to wait until school tomorrow?" "No, Mommy I want to wear them now!" Great.

For the rest of the afternoon until dinner, bath time and bed time, Spaghetti got her wish. She wore a Pull-Up free panty, successfully! Not an accident in sight! Whew. Once bedtime rolled around and I put her in Pull-Ups she seemed to understand that maybe she wasn't ready to go without at night just yet. Looking back, it's a little funny in moments like these where I feel like my child is teaching me. With Spaghetti and her potty training, she was ready and she needed me to be ready. Which really meant I had to put all my anxiety and dread of the potential mess aside and step up to the plate for her. Support her efforts and who knows, she just may surprise me. In this instance, she surely did.

When did you know your child was ready for potty training?

come potty with me

Another indication that time is flying by. Last week, Spaghetti’s daycare provider, Ms. P told me to bring pull-ups for next week. “What?”, I responded but really wanted to wail, “She isn’t even two yet!!” Pretty Pants and I weren’t ready to begin potty training and were secretly dreading the day that we would have to start. From my prior experience with the Meatball, potty training is not a whole lot of fun. It requires extra, extra amounts of patience and extra time for cleaning up messes. Being woken up by your potty-in-training child at 3 a.m. letting you know she wet the bed and now you have to change her (and the sheets) when you really needed that good night’s sleep for your early meeting the next day… right, not fun. So the jury’s still out if we’re thankful for the shove onto the potty train ride that Ms. P gave us, “Please, bring pull-ups. If I train here and you train at home, she will learn fast” Great, thanks. But regardless of the dreadfulness we felt tackling this adventure, we agreed. Spaghetti was to join the potty brigade.
 

They say that most toddlers show readiness for potty training between 18 and 24 months. Matching Spaghetti up to a list, I found on BabyCenter I had observed she met all the criteria. If she was ready, then we had to be ready too. We purchased some pull ups and got her a potty chair that jingles when she tinkles with some extra fun perks: a pretend flusher, a toilet paper holder and there’s even a smiling face painted on the potty. If that darn thing doesn’t make potty training “fun” I don’t know what will. Ms. P had advised us to take Spaghetti to the potty every hour so that she would get used to going to the bathroom. Every time she were to go potty, we should cheer her on. So I made a call to my mother, the Colonel and told her we started potty training Spaghetti. “Wow, so fast! You guys do things so fast here!”, she replied. I asked her if she had any tips and she laughed. “You know, in the Philippines there was no potty training. If you pee in your pants, you pee in your pants and that’s how you learned. They only have those kind of potty training here.” Oh those kind… right. I’m going to take a stab and define “those kind”. “Those kind” actually translates into: in the Philippines we didn’t have or make the time to hold your hand, buy you a pretty potty and get all happy if you pee. Potty training? Maybe a little harsh, but gets the job done.

So here we are with two very different potty training practices: Ms. P’s gradual practice-makes-perfect potty training and the Colonel’s hit-the-ground-running-but-change-your-pants-if-you-potty training. Both have validity. (See the Diaper Free program on BabyCenter for a structured version of Colonel’s technique) We haven’t tried the Colonel’s technique yet but may entertain the idea once we have a free weekend to clean up every accident. But I’m happy to report that Spaghetti is catching on to the whole potty business and squeals in delight when her potty sings a song whenever she goes, while Pretty Pants and I are there waiting to give her high fives for a job well done. No wonder that potty is smiling.