Because I know you've been sitting there, holding your breath, wondering how potty training is going, I decided to give you an update. You can thank me later. Like right after I've said pee and poop about 25 times. Motherhood is full of glamour.
So. It is with a slightly puffed chest that I announce to you, Emily is 1/2 potty trained. In no other area of my life would 50% cause me pride. I've been bred to accept nothing less than 95%. However. This 50% has not come without much blood, sweat, and tears. Ok, fine. No blood, but definitely sweat and a lot of tears.
Why 50%? Well, we're not quite to the pooping part yet. It is, apparently, even more terrifying than the pee portion. And the pee portion did not disappoint in the area of histrionics. I begged, pleaded ,encouraged, clapped, danced, sang-you name it-to try and diminish the fear factor. The secret to our success was two part. First, I bought Emily a brand new pink potty. It sings a song every time you go in it. Or at random times in the middle of the night, but that's another story. A story about how I sue a toddler potty company for a heart attack. So, the pink potty. And FINALLY, I hit pay dirt when I promised Emily a cupcake if she peed on the potty. This seems drastic, I know. But, she was holding her pee all day long. We were just begging for a UTI. Nothing will set you back on potty training like excruciating pain when you go! The cupcake promise was like magic. After she peed we went right then to the grocery and got a pack of mini cupcakes. She got one each time she went. I felt slightly guilty at all the cupcakes until it was just a couple days later when she was totally going and not even mentioning a cupcake. I threw away two of them. Hallelujah!
Now she wears undies all day (except for nap and bedtime) and keeps them dry. She does a great job telling me when she needs to go. She has also graduated to wearing undies to school. This is strictly prohibited, but because her teacher is awesome, she's totally fine with it. Our school has kids wear pull-ups while they are potty training. And I get it. Because you could potentially spend your whole day changing kids. But when I told Em's teacher she was staying dry everywhere else, she told me just to put her in undies. For Emily, pull-ups are potty training kryptonite. Give her an inch...
So now we forge forward into the wide world of poop in the potty. I've promised a trip to Sweet CeCe's if she goes. And she is not swayed. She saves it up for just before bedtime when I put her diaper on her. The girl is smart, there's no denying. I will say that in an effort to help her get over her fear of peeing I had one whole day where I told her to just go in her undies anytime she wanted to. It seemed to help her just "let it go", so to speak. I'm trying to decide if I'm brave enough/strong stomached enough to do the same with this.
Of course, this has drastically increased our trips to public restrooms, which were at high levels to begin with. I seriously have to choke back panic every time we go in one. Especially if she bends down and touches the floor. I KNOW! but it happens. I've added to my prayer list our protection from all manner of bathroom borne diseases.
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