The potty. The potty. The potty. Right now this mom of a four year old boy… HATES the potty.
As someone who went to college for Early Childhood Education, I thought I knew it all. I knew everything about children from infancy to five years of age, and thought that it would make being a mom SO much easier when that time came.
But guess what? You can NEVER be prepared.
Not with any kind of schooling. ANY kind at all.
I had my handsome son four years ago, and he was the opposite of every book I could ever read to get advice and help. Potty training has been our biggest challenge so far, and as hard as I try to understand where my son is coming from, I just don’t get it.
Our Potty Adventures Look Like This:
Now, some would say that four is way too old and he should have been potty trained a long time ago. Some would say that “you will get there one day… just be patient.”
But, this Mommy says she is losing her mind over something that should be so simple, but yet, it is still so very hard.
Sometimes I feel like my sweet boy is thinking, “if I poop in these underwear… I might just make my mom go crazy again today, and when she does that, she looks pretty funny!”
No matter how much I follow him around and ask 100 times a day for him to sit on the potty or to try to go potty for mom. He can’t. He won’t. He doesn’t. I lose. He wins. Because in his mind, “the ‘underwinner’ are the potty mommy!”
So, even though we all look for potty training books, songs, dances, classes, folktales, and other people around us and their experiences, we still will find ourselves feeling quite alone in the adventure that it becomes. We should never feel alone. As moms we need to come together because one day we will find the one thing it takes to have our kids go on the potty. Hopefully that one day will be soon for me.
Our children have their own time clock. As much as we want them to be successful because someone else’s child succeeded in that adventure first, they just won’t do it. Not until they are ready.
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So a few things that I have learned and hope helps someone else, even though we are nowhere near being 100% potty trained:
1. Be Patient- Our babies are still just that… babies. They are getting bigger and everything they do is a new experience. We need to remember that we didn’t learn to poop on the first try either…
2. Love Them- Even when they have accidents, trouble getting to the potty, or whatever little quirk they have (because they all have one!) we need to show them love. They need to know that no matter what the situation is, we are always there for them. We are to be their comfort, not their nightmare.
3. Give Reminders- Constantly remind them that we need to use the toilet. As insane as it is to follow a youngster around reminding them that they need to go in the toilet, not their pants… they need that reminder. They will one day go without you saying anything to them, and it will be amazing!
4. Keep it on the clock!- MOST, not all, kids are pretty regular. If you know they will be going 30 minutes after they eat, make sure you’re trying to get them to go around that time and to “sit and try,” everyday.
5. Relax- You will get there one day! If we are relaxed, our kids are relaxed and maybe, just maybe, they will go on the potty.
Way to go momma! It will happen soon!!
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