Monday, July 21, 2014

I Can't Believe I'm Doing This

There are a lot of things I prepared for during pregnancy. Like labor and delivery, how to care for a newborn, and logistics like health insurance for the little guy. 

The hubby and I talked about who would get up and handle night time feeding. Birthday parties. What would we do when he wanted a Mohawk, a piercing, or a tattoo. We had philosophical chats about t-ball, corporal punishment vs. timeouts, and how long I would breastfeed. 

Before parenthood there were a shit ton of things I'd never considered or even knew existed. Like what a doula was, an episiotomy, or whether or not I would circumcise my son. I didn't know what attachment parenting was or how to use a breast pump. 

I don't like making uninformed decisions, especially  when my child is at stake. So I research and research and research until I am satisfied that I'm doing what I honestly think is best for my little love bug.

Other things I just really thought I knew. I'm an Early Childhood Educator for Pete's sake! At least a 150 kids have been in my class. I'm good at what I do. Really.

So there were a few things I was for sure not going to worry about. Like discipline. Consistency. Language development (unless I had to, and of course I would know). Socialization. Close to the top of my list was potty training. 

I've been there, done that, with so many families. I knew what the signs of toilet learning readiness were. When to start and when to step back. 

Oh I knew. Like all childless people, I knew.

I had it all planned out. I would simply wait until my son showed all the signs of readiness, was physically ready and could verbally express his needs. I the great knowing mother would just follow his lead. It was that simple. Why complicate matters? Why push my needs and desires onto this little person? Why turn it into a needless power struggle?




Why indeed. 

Here's the thing. I'm pretty sure he's there. He's even asked to use the toilet and then gone. Successfully. And you know what I'm ready. I'm tiered of spending money on diapers, wipes, desitin, and diaper genie refills. I'd love to put that money into his college savings account.

So now here I am. Buying a potty seat. Underwear. Researching how to potty train a boy. Getting stickers and a few other little rewards (bribes). Fingers crossed hoping I'm not going to be starting a terrible power struggle I'm bound to lose. 

Any tips? 


6 comments:

  1. bring lots of changes of clothes for the next year.

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  2. We did the "boot camp" method, and it worked well for us. Straight to underwear, no pull-ups (except overnight for a little while). Set an alarm for every 30 minutes, and have him try to pee whenever it goes off. We had maybe 10 accidents the first day, but after a week, he was done. Sure, a few accidents here and there, and pooping was another story, but the peeing part only took a few days. Oh, and skip the pants at home while training. They're just another thing to pee in.

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    1. The "boot camp" method is the one I like best too. I was thinking flip flops and underwear in the yard until alarm sounds. I was going to set for every hour, but maybe 30 minutes is a better idea. I'm glad you like/did that method, makes me more confident that it's not insane.

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  3. Awe....it's like you were in my head! I did the same thing! I tried boot camp....I tried waiting...hell by the age of three I got to the point where cold baths were the result of the so called accidents he was having. I have no suggestions. I have no idea how we ever managed to get it right or why my son back slid 3 different times. All I can say is once you commit hang in there and keep at it! I wish you all the best and pray you're a lucky one that only takes a couple of weeks!

    If your kids are in daycare/creche my biggest suggestion is make sure the teacher/school are 100% on board! That made the biggest change for us!

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    1. The daycare staff is 100% on board. My problem is going to be my husband, who I convinced early on we wouldn't need to train our son. The boys do it when they want and when you wait for them to decide there are few accidents. I still think that. I'm just over it. I'm starting to think if I just wait, he'll wait till he's 4!

      Between him and my mom I for see resistance to going full steam ahead. I think I'm coming to peace with the idea it just be pee in the potty for a while...

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