Potty Training

Potty training…

I was one of those crazy moms who was excited to tackle this next stage in my toddler’s life. Maybe because she’s my first born and I haven’t had to experience sitting on the uncomfortable bathroom floor for hours on end. I purposely wanted to wait until the end of the week to reflect on Sally’s progress as I knew there would be many ups and downs.


Have I mentioned Reid has been in California for work this week? I know, right?! What was I thinking? He left Monday morning and will be home late this afternoon. Let’s just say I’ve been counting the hours (since Tuesday) when I can “tap out” and he can take potty duty.


I’m going to take the easy way and do a few bullets of my experience

• We decided to do the all or nothing approach. Sally wears her underwear during the day when she’s awake. “Diapers are only for sleeping,” she’ll tell you.

I posted this picture to FB saying, "This whole potty training thing would be a whole lot easier if I could at least have a drink at the end of the night!"

• The first time she went on the toilet it took her an hour and a half to “let it go.” An hour and a half of sitting on a hard cold floor…mind you, I’m 20 weeks pregnant and the baby loves to be in a position to bother my sciatic nerve. Sally either has an insanely large bladder or she’s ridiculously stubborn. The plus side is she’s so willing to sit on the toilet for that long.

• Our first two potty days it was stormy outside so I was stuck following her around like a puppy to catch the “potty dance” before she peed. Did I mention Reid was here?

The Twins were playing in California and they got to go to the game...

• I can’t begin to explain the relief I felt when it was finally time for nap and I didn’t have to worry about a thing, other than complete all the things I needed to that day since I was following my toddler around instead of multi-tasking.

• By Wednesday, she wasn’t having any accidents, but it would take her 40 minutes to “let it go.” I took away distractions (books, games, me talking with her), not as a punishment, but I felt it might help her concentrate and go faster. She didn’t seem to mind, as she was still willing to sit.for.40.minutes. I started walking in and out as well in hopes of speeding up the process. Here’s a video of her in her prime of what she does while waiting to pee.

Thank you Pat, Tiff and Izzy for my Elmo hat!

• Yesterday was our first time leaving the house since Sunday afternoon…remember, Reid’s here:

Huntington Beach

We went to Target for a whole 15 minutes to pick up a gallon of milk and some fruit.

• I scheduled an hour long pregnancy massage for next week. {I thought this was a very important part of our potty training experience that you should know}

• Yesterday evening we had a breakthrough. At 6pm it only took her 10 minutes!! I wanted to cry I was so proud of her. I can only imagine the feeling parents get when they see their child get straight A’s, graduate college, score a touchdown for a professional sports team, become The President. You know, because only taking 10 minutes to pee is TOTALLY comparable to all of those accomplishments

• After her awesome accomplishment we were headed outside to play in the pool for a bit. I was ECSTATIC to see our friends headed our way. Finally someone I could really vent to that can understand, as they are going to tackle the potty thing with Lucy starting next week. {We were fortunate to have visitors both Tuesday and Wednesday evening which was also a blessing for me, but neither have toddlers, so it was a different kind of “venting.” You know who you are that came over, thank you! I hope seeing the potty training processes doesn’t prolong you having kids!}. You guys, while we were talking and the girls were splashing around, Sally told me she had to pee, came inside and went IMMEDIATELY!! I wanted to give her a gallon of ice cream as a reward! It was the first night this week I went to bed not envious of my husband being in California.

We’re hoping today will be another successful day, so we can show Daddy all of Sally’s progress. Have I mentioned I get to head North Saturday morning, until Sunday afternoon? I have a Bachelorette Party for my good friend this weekend. Can’t wait for a much needed break and for Daddy to have a taste of being a single parent!

So proud!!

Happy Weekend, think of us when you head to the bathroom :)