Why didn’t anyone describe to me (in detail) the exciting adventure I was about to embark on? Why didn’t any of my mommy friends share the real hard facts about potty training? Or better yet, potty training MY child? Where were my Theta Moms when I needed to know the real deal?
There seriously should be a separate manual that gives new mommies an informative guide of the expected agony one will feel when going through this super fun process!
My son struggled from day one while trying to use that P-O-T-T-Y.
I tried it all. 
I had the little potty that would play music when he went pee-pee, but that didn’t last long. He was over that in like two days. (Yeah, that’s the one).
I tried the old “crumble the toilet paper-throw it in the big boy toilet-then try to aim at the paper balls” game, but that only lasted a whole hour. I even sprinkled Cheerios in the toilet and gave him little prizes when he aimed and scored.
But eventually, that all went down the toilet, too.
I just had to learn to let it roll.
Waiting…patiently….ever so patiently…for that magical day to come…Finally, at one point (which seemed like an eternity) he finally came around and decided (on his own time, of course) that he was ready and wanted to use the potty all by himself.
Yes, this was a defining moment Theta Moms.
Although I still needed the bag of Cheerios at an arms length and had to applaud him, even when he made only a few drops, he was going on his own!
It was a miracle.
But let’s not forget that through this enjoyable process, there were many days and nights in which he certainly added to my laundry load and it’s impossible to forget the hours of frustration I felt when he refused to go or even try. Yes, those days were certainly F-U-N.
And so after reaching the goal of going #1, aren’t you wondering how he managed to do #2?
Well, I’ll save that for another day…
I’m too busy letting it roll.
I am jealous of those who are showing potty training success. My oldest was in daycare as I was a single mom who had to work outside of the home for her 1st three years of life. Now I am faced with an almost 3 year old boy who first off has NO interest in the potty and second off I am a lost mommy! He is slightly interested, and loves his new cars themed potty for the big potty but man this is such a challenge. I am going to try the Cheerios in the toilet and aiming like so many other moms of boys said worked…here's hoping!
Potty training is sucky! But it is so lovely when it is done…
I am still trying to get my boys to have better aim, though.
I love hearing potty training stories!! I've only trained one so far – my 3 year old son. That was so much work and now am dreading the days that I have to do it 2 more times w/ my daughters!
learning the potty is a way for my kids to apply some enhanced interrogation techniques on me. mamacita is finally getting it down, but man she is still putting me through the ringer on some days.
We didn't even try the potty. Big toilet straight away but oh it was a drawn out affair. My girls trained themselves really quickly but my boy took quite a while!
I absolutely HATED potty training my 1st set of twins. But there's a lot to be said about just waiting until they're ready to do it. I kept pushing and pushing and they just kept rebelling. Then finally one day out of the blue, they were suddenly interested.
My 2nd set of twins are a little over 2 yrs old and I'm dreading the whole process again…it's one of those necessarily evils of motherhood, kwim?
Love your blog!!! I found you through MBC!
Whoah Helene 2 sets of twins Holy Canoli! Good Luck! Sophia was SO easy. We started letting her sit on the potty as soon as he could walk at 11 months and she started doing #2 on it soon after. The poo poo was easy to time and put her on the pot at the right moment. I think pee pee she almost just did by herself and by her 2nd birthday she was never having accidents. However, when you potty train young you have a lot of potty going to do. They DO NOT know how to hold it. I am waiting until she is 3 to do underpants at night so she wears her Dora pull up and tells me every night that when she is 3 she can wear her panties to bed. I just did not want those messes right now :).
Miles is 14 months and not even walking and I have heard nightmarish stories about potty training boys so I am not even thinking about it yet. My only goal is possibly to have him pooping by the time the new baby comes in January. Then I will still only have 1 child pooping all over themselves. And that would be an accomplishment!
Moms deserve some major props for potty training boys. My nephew lived with me while he was potty training and MAN was it messy!