« Vegas, baby! | Home | Still alive... »

June 06, 2009

Misadventures In Potty Training

I'm sitting in the early morning sun as I write this, basking in the warmth and relaxation that only a very lazy week-long vacation can bring. Meanwhile, poor F is probably toiling away at home on The Great Renovation Project, phase 1,465. You may be noticing that this is sort of a running theme in our marriage: When there's work to be done, Mads and I hightail it out of town. I'm not exactly sure how - or if - we actually settled on this arrangement, but it works for me.

If there was one low point of this little break of ours, it's that way, way too much of it has been pre-occupied by poop. Because unfortunately, the Great Potty Training Project continues as well.

I'm a worrier. It's just what I do. I fret and stew and pace and plan and scrap the plan and pace some more and plan again. But in my short career as a mom I've come to see that with just about every new challenge, the anticipation is far worse than the reality. Ditching the bottle? No problem! Moving to a big girl bed? Easy as pie. Then just as I'm starting to think I kick ass at this Mommy thing, along comes potty training. And even though I knew it would likely be a struggle, it turns out to be so so much worse than I'd ever imagined.

I've lost track, but I'd guess we're on day 100 or so of potty training. The girl is a total champ when it comes to peeing, but good god the other bit is testing my sanity. Bribes, charts, stickers, rewards: You name it, we've tried it. Without going into too much detail - because she does deserve a bit of potty privacy, and you might be eating breakfast - I now know far more than I or anyone should ever know about bowel movements.

And I'll leave it at that.

June 6, 2009 | Permalink

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00e54f9020138833011570ca59fb970b

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Misadventures In Potty Training:

Comments

good luck there. Would you believe it if I told you I've also started the potty training progress? Not too shabby, considering how far Katy has come. She's 3 and a half and It sounds like good timing to me.

So far, we've had no luck on any kind of sphincter activity over the toilet, but the little trooper still sits it out for a couple minutes. What really freaks her out is when she "toots" and it echoes in the toilet bowl (she has a potty seat on the regular toilet).

Posted by: michelle Hays | Jun 6, 2009 3:26:44 PM

I think my son took a year to potty train - the lady who was watching him started early - no pressure. Just leaving the nappy off in the day etc! But seriously it took him A YEAR!

My daughter was quick - literally overnight she stopped with the day nappy!

GOOD LUCK! Potty training is really crappy ;-p

Posted by: Laura | Jun 6, 2009 9:32:33 PM

hmm........... Maybe I shouldn't be telling you it was easy with my son. :).
To be honest, my mom gave me pointers which I followed religiously.
I'll probably jinx myself with the next kid if I talk about how easy it's been. lol
Anywayz , best of luck and knowing Maddie she'll learn when she wants to :)

Posted by: desertmom | Jun 9, 2009 3:24:26 AM

oh, i've been missing.

hang in there with the potty, it will come in time.

my answer to every problem is read a book about it, but not always the best option.

Posted by: Treemama | Jun 9, 2009 6:29:31 PM

It took our first a good year and a half to potty train. The second, a month. Every kid is different though. My only suggestion is letting her clean herself up in a COLD shower.

Posted by: Brittany | Jun 28, 2009 8:18:54 PM