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We have begun our grand adventure into the world of potty training. The potty and step stool have been purchased, along with the pull-ups and we are ready to rid our lives of diapers.
Maya has probably been ready to give this whole potty training thing a try for a while now, but we wanted to hold off until after all the craziness and traveling of the holidays were over and we into a regular routine again.
So, a couple of weeks ago Maya and I hit up the “potty” department of our local Target and she helped pick out her new potty. We opted for adapter seat type that sits on the regular toilet (just makes the regular toilet their size!) and a step stool to help her get up onto the toilet. I showed her the options hanging on the wall and she picked out the Sesame Street one. With the potty all picked out I grab a step stool and a pack of training pants and home we went to try it out.
As I was unloading the rest of our bags Maya was in the bathroom practicing putting the potty seat on the toilet. I asked her if she wanted to pee in the potty, she said “ya” very enthusiastically. Inside I was jumping for joy thinking this potty training thing was going to be a piece of cake. Ya, not so. She freaked out when I took her diaper off and sat her on the potty. She was terrified of it.
After a little rethinking I decided that I would just let her try it out at first with her pants on. For the next couple of days I would ask her if she wanted to try out her potty. She would tell me that she did, but with her pants on 
It seemed to be working out well. She was warming up to the potty and getting the hang of the lingo and the flushing the toilet part. I figured the best time to try with the diaper off was going to be at bathtime because she almost always pees the second she gets in the tub and she would need to get naked anyway. The next bathtime I stripped her down like normal and asked her if she wanted to try using the potty. She hesitantly agreed (score). I helped her up on to the potty and told her to try going pee in the potty. She did, she peed in the potty (double score). Lorne and I made a big deal about it shouting “yeah” and clapping for her. The girl loves when you clap for her and wanted to go again so we would clap again, it was too funny.
Over the next week or so I managed to get her to sit on the potty everyday at least a couple of times and she was actually peeing in the potty at least once a day, most days twice. We were making some head way, getting the hang of things, when Maya got sick. It has been a week now since she last used the potty. It sits, lonely, beside the toilet waiting to be used again. She hasn’t had any interest in trying again since she got sick and now she is diarrhea so we’ll hold off again until she feels better and her “going” schedule is back to normal.
I don’t think it’ll take to long to train her once we can get back into it. I figure we’ll spend a little more time just testing the waters and putting her on the potty every so often before we start using the training pants. We’ll then try the training pants for a little while until she gets the hang of not going in her diaper anymore and telling us when she has to go. At that point we’ll try it out with real big girl underwear. I’ll keep you posted of our progress.
If you have any tips for us we’d love to hear them? Any tried and true methods to this potty training madness, anything we should avoid?
Our house is filled with crayons, coloring books and pieces of paper filled with random little scribbles. Any time you sit down at the desk Maya is right there wanting up on your lap with pen in hand ready to color on every little piece of paper within reach. Maya loves to color, just loves it. It is by far her favorite thing to do. No matter what kind of mood she is in, what else is going on, if you give her a box of crayons and some paper she is on cloud 9. We may just have a budding little artist on our hands.
Knowing how much she loves coloring and creating things we try to encourage it and give her lots of outlets for her artistic ways. The other day when it was unbearably cold outside and we were feeling very couped up we hit the store in search of something new and fun to do. Knowing how much Maya loves coloring and all things crafty I hit the coloring aisle first. One of the first things I spotted was a pack of washable paints. At first I was a little worried that the mess wouldn’t be worth the fun. I mean the package did say washable, but really, completely washable? I decided after some back and forth in my head to give it a shot. Boy was it worth it. These paints are completely washable and Maya loves her new artistic medium (thank you Crayola Washable Paints).
Her favorite part of breaking out the paints maybe that she gets to wear one of mommy’s old t-shirts I think we will quickly run out of room on the fridge for her beautiful painted pictures
Before Maya arrived Lorne and I wonder what the kitties would think of the new arrival. We worried that they would feel neglected once we brought Maya home and the attention that used to be showered on them was now being showered on a noisy, little baby. As we began accumulating all the gear necessary for a baby we would put things together and just let the kitties check it out. We figured that if they were familiar with the gear before the baby got here than it would make the transition a little easier on them. They were very curious about all the stuff. I think they thought we were buying all this stuff for them! Little did they know their world was about to change in a very big way.
Once we brought Maya home from the hospital the curiosity turned from the gear that was now filling up every corner of our condo to this tiny little person that had suddenly appeared. They spent a lot of time checking her out. Sniffing her and watching her closely, just trying to decide what she was and if they liked her
After a while they both decided that she was “A-okay” in their books and she could stay. The distant watching and quick drive by sniffings turned into cuddles. I’ll never forget the first time Laura (our cuddliest cat) decided to get up close and personal with Maya. Laura loves to cuddle and her favorite thing to do is stretch out beside you with her head propped up on you, it doesn’t matter what part of you, she’ll take an arm, a leg, a head, it really doesn’t matter. Maya was thrilled and smiled and giggled as Laura cuddled.
The worry we had was all for not. Any attention that they kitties may have been lacking from us now that we were taking care of this new little person in our lives was quickly made up for (and then some) by that same little person. Maya loves her kitties. She loves to cuddle them (whether they want to cuddle or not), she loves to play with them, she loves to talk about them, brush them, feed them.
She even misses the kitties when we are on vacation and she hasn’t seen them for a few days. While we were up visiting with our families over the holidays Maya got a little homesick towards the end of our trip and was walking around my in-laws place saying “miss Laura” and “go home, Louis, see Laura. Miss Laura” because she missed Laura and wanted to go home to St. Louis to see her kitties. It was the sweetest thing.
She just, plain and simple, loves those kitties with all her heart, and they love her. They are her best fur friends.
Maya has always loved her crib. She has slept in her crib very well from the day she got home from the hospital. After spending a few days in her bassinet in our room at night and naps in her crib it became very clear that she slept better in her crib than she did in our room, so, we made the switch to the crib and have never looked back.
The crib is her bed, her place. The idea of sleeping any where else never crosses her mind. Even if offered the chance to sleep in Mommy and Daddy’s bed she passes on the chance and asks for her bed. It is her safe place, her comfortable place, the place she loves to be.
We’ve talked about when we will make the big change to a toddler bed but since she still loves to sleep in her crib and has never even tried to climb out of it we figure why change something when it works so well the way it is. That was until this past weekend when Maya learned this new trick.
Now, I am not surprised that, unlike most toddlers, she choose to figure out how to climb into her crib versus climbing out of it! She sure does love that crib.
We’ve decided that since she still hasn’t even considered the idea of climbing out of her crib that we will leave things the way they are for now. When she decides it is time to do away with the crib and move on to the “big girl” bed we’ll follow her down that path. But for now I love that she still loves to sleep in her crib, it lets me pretend for a little while longer that she isn’t growing up way too fast.
Parenting requires a lot, and I do mean A LOT, of patience. It requires the kind of patience that doesn’t come naturally for most of us. It calls for the kind of patience that definitely requires a conscious effort. Do you have the patience for parenting?
I’ve always considered myself a pretty patient person. There are times that I can be extremely patient but, of course, there are other times when I just don’t have it in me. I think we are all a bit like that. Patience has always been a big part of my daily life, even before I became a parent. My career, before becoming a stay-at-home mom, required a lot of patience. I dealt with the public during times of trial, during times of anger and frustration. It required that I listen patiently to my clients and gather the patience necessary to work with them to find a solution. My clients, given that they were going through something frustrating and annoying, were, needless to say, not very patient with me or the process. They expected results yesterday and were quick to become agitated and angry. It took a lot of conscious effort to find the patience necessary to get the job done. I prided myself in the patience I had under fire. When I was pregnant with Maya I thought that my job skills would come in handy during parenting, I mean how could a child be any more difficult to deal with than some of my clients
Well, I quickly found out that being a parent requires more patience than I have had to use in any other area of my life. There are days I question my ability to do this job. Days when I question if I have the patience to make it through to bedtime. Parenting is hard work. Parenting a toddler is more challenging than anything else I have ever done. It takes more skills, patience and creativity than any other job I have ever had. It is also the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. One little smile, a big hug or even just hearing the work “mommy” makes it all worth it and makes those moments when my patience was lacking simply disappear.
Keeping my cool under pressure can be tough sometimes. I admit that I have my moments when I’ve had enough and yell because I just can’t take it anymore. I’ve started with time outs when necessary to help Maya learn about consequences and they seem to working for the most part. But we still have those days when nothing works. On those really rough days when I feel like there is only one tiny string holding it all together there are a few things I try that help keep my cool, like:
- Breathe and consider the action. Is it just me be impatient or is this really something worth getting upset over?
- I try to engage my daughter in activities that I know don’t usually end with trouble. For example, my daughter loves coloring, so if things are going south I’ll suggest a coloring session or a painting session to help ease both our nerves.
- We head out. Some days our only option is to run an errand or do a little shopping but getting out of the house helps us both. A change of scenery can work magic for a frustrated toddler and a frustrated mom.
- I try to have at least 2 or 3 little adventures planned for each week. Fun activities that can be used to encourage good behavior. Things like our weekly playdate with our good friends, or a trip to the zoo or park if the weather is nice, or a mommy and me class.
- If all else fails we spend a little time doing our own thing. I’ll do a little house cleaning and she’ll watch a movie, play with her toys or read a book.
The nice thing about these days of toddlerhood are that toddlers are very distractable, change from being really mad and frustrated to be happy go lucky again in no time flat. So even in those moments when things aren’t going so well and we are both frustrated I know that better times and big smiles are just around the corner. I have found that keeping my cool and being patient are keys to successful, frustration-free, days for both of us. It is sometimes easier said than done, but I do my best and that’s all we can really do in this job that has no handbook. At the end of the day when my daughter and I are snuggling up together reading a bedtime story I know I’m doing something right.
What tricks to do you use when frustrations are high and patience is low? How do you and your kids get through those tough days?