The Mis-Adventures of a Potty Training Mama

Many of you may remember when we made the bold move to get Mr. A a potty, last year after he turned 18 months. I say bold move because we were in the middle of wedding planning and must have been crazy to think we could truly potty train him at…the…same…time! Well, unfortunately and not surprisingly, we gave up trying after many failed attempts and extreme frustration.

Look at it! It's almost like it's laughing at me!

Now that the wedding is over and we’re back in our right (and almost totally patient) minds, we decided to start back focusing on the potty training again. Unfortunately, one very important person was not on board with this plan…Mr. A! Yes, of course, our head strong 2 year old has decided that every time we suggest he use the potty, his response should be yelling “No, I not ready yet!” And…sadly for him, my response is normally something along the lines of “Look at Mommy’s face. Does it look like I care?” (I know…I know…that’s not very motherly but trust me, sarcasm is a HUGE part of my successful parenting style).

So anywho, last week we went in to Potty Training boot camp mode with 2 ½ willing participants. (This also explains my absence last week. I needed to concentrate.) I’m proud to say we have had some successes everyday which are normally followed by the following phrases:

• CHARMA, I used the potty! (No, I’m not a fan of him calling me by my name, but the potty congrats were way more important at the time.)
• “Uh-oh! Something fell in the potty!” (I’m going to be nice and spare you the details on this self-explanatory one.)
• And of course the usual “I not potty anymore!” (Even though he clearly just finished leaving me a surprise in said potty.)

Now, as always in early stage potty training, these successes have been drastically out-weighed by mistakes.

NOTE: I personally don’t believe they are actual mistakes. He’s a smart kid who is very aware of his bodily functions and he has a vindictive prankster side like his mom. This is why it is very hard to believe him when he runs past me with the Pepe Le Pew stinch cloud following close behind and claiming “There’s nothing in there!” (referring to his pull-up)

However, whether good or bad, at least at this point, he is learning. We work with him every day and so are his teachers. And since I’ve seen that he can do it and he sees the other kids in his classing using it, I have hope that we won’t give up as easily as we did before. So, hopefully, I’ll be able to update you all with the news that we’ve moved from pull-ups to big boy undies, because not only do I expect these pull-ups to be a costly investment, but I really don’t think it would be easy for him to get a prom date while still wearing them.

So, with all of that said do I have any parents who have suggestions for how to make this move from pull-ups to big boy underwear? We (I) would love to hear them!

Mr. A after successfully using the potty!