potty party day

I think potty training may be one of the hardest parts of mothering.  At least potty training Emmeline sure has been.

I’ll spare you all the nasty details, but suffice it to say, it’s been a year in the making.  I tried a three day boot camp a full year ago and we’ve been back and forth (but mostly back) since then.

I keep thinking I’ll be buying my last box of diapers for her, but then life gets too crazy and cleaning up ‘accidents’ just doesn’t make the cut. 

Last week, despite my piling up list of ‘to dos’ I decided enough was enough.  I couldn't keep letting all these other demands superseded Emmeline’s need to move past this milestone.  She was ready, and probably has been for a while, and I keep confusing the poor girl by flipping back and forth.   It’s just so darn convenient to tell your little toddler to just pee in her diaper rather than stopping the car to go and find a potty.

Anyway, I put it in the calendar today.  And, after getting some good advice from a good friends mom who used a one day method with all her kids, I decided to give it a try. 

I’m not sure we’re out of the woods, but here are the stats for the day:

hours spent focusing totally on emmeline = 12

emmeline sized diapers thrown away = all that we had in the house

pee pee in the potty = 8

poop in the potty = 1

little half accidents = 1

puddles on the floor = 1

books about potties read = 3

glasses of apple juice = 10

baby doll potty trained = 1

outings without accidents = 2

matching games = 2

emmeline rolling her eyes at me = 3

dresses tucked into undies = 5

happy little big kid = 1

After dinner we had a big potty party celebration where Emmeline was crowned the Potty Queen (or the Queen of Poop as the kids liked to call her).  We decorated the dining room with toilet paper and ate chocolate cake and drank lemonade.  Charlie made up a song about what those two represent --we had to ask him over and over again not to sing it at the table. 

Who knows if it worked.  Only time will tell.  But, I’m not going back.  We may still have a long road ahead of us in, but I’m gonna press forward. 

She did pretty well today, and I really enjoyed my little Emmeline.   She is amazingly endearing when it’s just me and her.  Such a funny girl.

As I tucked everyone in I looked around, and in my head revisited my unrealistic to do list for the week that I made last night.  I didn’t get anything on that list done.  But, look at those stats up there.  I accomplished a lot today.  I’ve (hopefully) got Emmeline on her way to a lifelong career of peeing and pooping in the potty. 

That’s pretty huge.