About the Potty

I guess it’s safe to say Anna’s over the rough stuff of potty training. We’ve been sending her to school in her Big Girl Undies since before Disney, and the only accidents were when on the playground back then and they couldn’t get to the potty in time. Last week there were no accidents, and this past weekend she’s even started “doing #2” on the potty. She’s gone in airports, airplanes, hotels, Disney bathrooms, restaurant bathrooms, and this weekend, on the road in gas station bathrooms. I think that between Paul and Anna I may ultimately know the locations of every bathroom in the Clear Lake area and airports. So she is getting it down.

A few weeks ago we donated all her diapers to her school and we’ve slowed down on the pull-ups use too. She does still get a pull-up for naps and an overnight diaper for night time. I can’t even fathom when we might be able to stop those… In the meantime she’s also gotten fine with sitting on a big potty without the little seat attachment and without me holding her, where at first she was afraid she’d fall in and I had to hold her and reassure her. She has even gone so far this weekend to proudly tell each Paul and me: “Look! I don’t need you!” Well ha, that’s the first time we’ve heard that but she’s pretty correct in a number of ways.

We’re on our way to many more of “I don’t need you!” Funny how I anticipate that same phrase can mean lots of different things (good and bad) in the upcoming phases of her little life.

I admit at this point that diapers were much more convenient during travel!!! There’s nothing like pulling over 2-3 times on a 3 hour drive so she can go to the potty. No doubt these toddlers need to pee at all the wrong times. Like standing in line to check in at the airport. Or to see Mickey Mouse. Or when there’s a lonnnnngggg line in the Women’s room. Telling her, “Looks like you’ll have to pee pee in your pull up” elicits: “nnnnnoooooo!!!!!” and ensuing whining. So I tell myself this is another phase of toddlerhood that I should expect and celebrate, and to (as usual) roll with it. Slow down, remember you have a child now.

We are super excited and proud of her for getting this potty training thing down. I guess she’s behind and ahead of peers her age but for this day and age I think she’s pretty average. Smack in the middle. We haven’t pressured her to learn to go, because we knew enough that this is a touchy subject for lots of kids. Just kind of eased her into it over the course of the last several months.

She’s still a little OCD. She was inspecting a pair of her undies last week and was a little freaked out by the seams on the sides. You know, the one that holds the undies together! I had to show her that mine had seams too and it helped…but then she had a tougher time overcoming the fact that her favorite Yo Gabba Gabba characters’ heads and legs were chopped off at that seam. Oh well, baby steps. She got over it after a little discussion of how undies are made…sigh…How many other kids might just put them on without even thinking of it?!

I think she gets it from me.