Thoughts on Potty Training

With one day down and it being daddy’s turn today; my thoughts on potty training thus far is that it pretty much sucks! Don’t get me wrong, Jayden is doing GREAT and the fact that I might not have to pay for diapers again for him is a major bonus!! But there were times yesterday I did ask myself if this was all worth it.

Potty training is just a very time consuming task, especially doing it by yourself. It’s very wearing on a mom and dad whose child is already so self sufficient in so many ways and it can sometimes be difficult to have him by my side 24/7. You literally get nothing done! The good thing about it is that both Jesse and I are getting to spend a lot of QT with our little man!!

I think that I have said “potty” so many times in the last three days that I could seriously go nuts! Last night we had family dinner at my parents and by the end; I think my siblings were ready to kill me because I said it so much. My husband thought it would be funny yesterday to text me “Do you need to use the potty?” I was not so amused. Though Jesse couldn’t be there he was texting me all day to see how I was doing; making me feel very encouraged. That helped a lot!

I think I might be that mom that getting a little too excited when her child goes “potty,” at times I felt that I was more excited than him. It was like he was saying; “ok mom, nice dance; now give me the freaking M&M’s!” Seriously, my dances were like a production!!! Am I really the only mom that did this?!

To get to this point of potty training Jayden, I felt the need to really do my research to find the best ways of getting him permanently on the potty. I didn’t want any of this “hard core” stuff and then for us to give up and go back to diapers. But all in all, I think I’m more confused by reading all that stuff than if I didn’t read it at all.

I’m convinced that it has nothing to do with gender or any technique posted on the internet. I think that every child is different and each has their own way of finally “getting it.” I’ve seen both boys and girls at 21 months, trained and be fine. I’ve also seen both boys and girls not potty trained until age 4. I don’t think that there’s any “right” way.

We are only on day two. There are moments I think Jayden will make it and be potty trained by the end of the week; then there are moments I don’t. Either way I need to stay positive and keep encouraging him. He will get it and it doesn’t really matter when. I think my expectations of this whole thing were not so much on getting HIM potty trained and more whether I could do it as a working mother. I really need to lay that down and just focus on him and help him the way he needs as best as I can.

Three more days to go…