It may one of the worst experiences of my life. To be completely honest, I have been dreading this for the last year. DREADING. I am a huge fan of diapers. I love diapers. The mess is all contained. I can change it on my time table. No huge worries, and now my life is upside down.
Our second round of potty training went something like this...we started on Saturday and it went pretty well. I would set a timer and when it would go off we would sit on the potty and he would go. He wore underwear most of the day. Micah and I were so encouraged that we even took Beckham to his favorite restaurant, The Old Spaghetti Factory, as a reward. He even went at the restaurant! Whoo! Whoo! By the time the day was over, we had only one accident.
Sunday started out great too. In fact, we went to Aaron Phillip's homecoming and Beckham was awesome again! But...that night we went over to my mom's for my Grandma's birthday party. One time Beckham sat on the potty and the pee went all over his underwear. Next...Beckham disappeared. I started realizing I hadn't seen him for awhile and started looking. I searched the whole house. Then I told Micah and we searched together. Then the whole family started looking. We finally found him hiding in my dad's office because he had had an accident. Poor thing.
By Sunday night I had a complete anxiety attack. This weekend had gone okay, but Micah was here and tomorrow, Micah would be at work. How was going to potty train, and be a mom? I didn't think it was possible, so I didn't sleep. I was terrified.
And Monday was bad. Beckham no longer liked the timer and when it would go off, he would go and hide. There were a couple accidents. What caused me the most anxiety is that Beckham would want to go potty right when Graham wanted to be fed or when I was pumping or when I was changing Graham's diaper. Its like at the drop of the hat I had to be ready to give him my full attention! I had two infants! Ugh.
About 5pm I completely broke down. I couldn't control the tears. Micah came home and eventually we got the boys in bed...and then I started thinking about Tuesday.
Tuesday, I took Allie's idea of getting rid of the timer and letting Beckham tell me when he needed to go. I didn't do very well at this because I was so paranoid. I am sure I asked every other minute. As the day wore on, my anxiety kept getting stronger and stronger. About 4pm...I got a call from an angel...out of the blue, Micah called and said he was coming home from work. I started to cry right then, because I knew I needed him. I wanted to be strong and tell him everything was fine, but I was going bonkers. Micah showed up, and told me to get out of the house for a bit. AMAZING HUSBAND! I felt all of the stress and anxiety fall away. I didn't even know what to do with myself. I got in the car and listed to music I wanted to listen to and went to a store I would never dream of taking the boys to. The whole time I just kept smiling. Micah has never done anything like this. On top of it, I didn't even ask, he just knew I needed a break. When I came home a couple of hours later all the boys were in bed, the house cleaned, and dinner ready. How did he do it??? I went to bed and felt so much better.
Wednesday I had a renewed sense of hope. Beckham started out the day fantastic. I even watched Easton and Millie while I cooked! I felt like super mom! As I am writing this, no accidents. Yeah!
Potty Training is the worst. THE WOREST! I feel like my house is contaminated with pee germs every where. (Why don't kids understand the absolute importance of washing hands when they are done???) Germs are heavily prevalent with boys. Boys have a fascination touching their pee-pee's. Why? They especially have a problem when they discover the easy access of underwear. Plus, even though we had one good day today, it could all be gone tomorrow. From now on I have to carry several pairs of underwear and a change of clothes for my THREE YEAR OLD!!! REALLY??? And all the anxiety that comes with going somewhere? Terrifying. Who's idea is to potty train anyway?
I really don't think there is a right way or a wrong way. I think every child is different and every parent is different, and you have to do what is right for you. I waited a long time to potty train Beck, and I think I felt the most pressure from the outside world...like there was something wrong with me that Beckham wasn't potty trained...but, I knew he wasn't ready and I enjoyed diapers.
Here are somethings that did and didn't work for me:
Waiting till he had a dry diaper in the morning didn't work. Beckham's diaper was always wet, so I started making sure he didn't have anything to drink an hour before bed. I felt bad not even letting him have water. His diaper was still wet, so we are using pull up's at night. We have told Beckham they are CAR's underwear and it seems to be working. This morning his pull up even felt dry. Say what you want about pull ups, but as for me and this house we are using them.
The timer did work...for awhile. More than anything it helped remind me to remind him.
Beckham loves putting stickers on a sticker chart every time he goes in the potty.
Beckham loves his Spiderman, Star Wars, and Batman underwear. I think they look hideous. I would much prefer cute stripped boxer/briefs, but he gets so excited to put on his super hero underwear.
Calling underwear panties in our house does not work. Micah does not like the work panties for boys. Its underwear. I have to work really hard at using the right term.
Beckham HATED watching potty movies and readying potty books. It wasn't until he was 2 days into potty training that he actually watched Sesame Street's potty movie and sat through the whole thing. I think it was because he wasn't interested or maybe didn't understand.
Waiting until Beckham wanted to sit on the potty did work for us. I am sure most parents would say this one doesn't work for them because their child would never want to sit on the potty, but eventually Beckham began to understand what we did on the potty and wanted to be big like us.
Waiting until Beckham told me he need to go potty did work for me. It was awful waiting, and I am not going to lie...I asked him all the time...but it really worked best when he told me because it was then when he would actually go. When I forced him on the toilet he wouldn't.
Anyway...when I told Allie how awful and life consuming potty training is she said, "why do you think my blog consisted of potty training stories for a couple years." I now understand. So, I am sure I will have many potty stories to share, so if you want to keep reading my blog, be my guest, but drop all judgements at the door. Heaven knows I have:)
Loves,
Josie
1 comment:
I love him! I also love that boys don't wear "panties!"
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