The potty? It has been trained! I think.

WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE DID IT!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was a battle, you guys. A true, epic battle. One that began over a year ago and required three separate attempts and a huge amount of endurance. Now, we’re only three days into this so perhaps I’m writing prematurely and soon will be typing a post entitled Maybe We Avoid Her Ever Dating Because She Never Stops Wearing Diapers, but for now, in this moment, Adeline has been in underwear (unless sleeping) since Friday, has peed on the potty several times and EVEN POOPED ON IT ALL BY HERSELF! I never imagined that I’d feel so much excitement, pride and pure glory over another individuals bowel movements, but I do. I am giddy over poop and pee and how magical it is to see it in a toilet rather than on a butt that I have to wipe clean. Yes, I said magical, because that is what it is.

Here’s how it went down. Three weeks ago, I checked out a handful of kids potty training books from the library and left them laying around the house, waiting for Addy to show interest in them. She did, and I read them to her whenever requested. About 2 weeks ago, I started casually mentioning that we were going to run out of diapers pretty soon and we’d only have enough left to sleep in. One week ago, I marked a day on the calendar and showed Addy that this was the day all the diapers were going away and she’d have to wear underwear unless she was sleeping. I told her there would be lots of candy and prizes and stickers and fun, fun, FUN!!!!! She wasn’t sold and totally did not believe me about the diapers running out, cause Duh, Mommy. We can just get more at the store. I was undeterred. Whether she liked it or not, the diapers were disappearing.

Diaper D-Day arrived and I had my arsenal at the ready.

Stickers and a daily potty chart? Check. (A sticker in a square every time she pees or poops. If the sticker lands in a square with a green circle around it or she poops, she gets a prize.)

Tons of candy and treats? Check.

Prizes? You bet, complements of Target’s dollar section.

Undies? By the dozen.

Multiple easy-access potties? Yup.

I was ready for this battle and god help me, I was going to win. This. was. it. The potty was about to become my bitch, and it didn’t even know it.

So. Friday morning rolls around. I let Addy have some time to wake up and do her usual morning routine. When Crosby went down for his morning nap, I began my attack with the subtle tactic of Addy, Let’s Change Your Diaper Sweetie But Then Not Ever Put One Back On. And she totally went with it. Cool, Mommy. No Diaper. Whatevs. That is, until she felt the need to pee. And then a demon possessed my child.

She had to pee and wanted a diaper put on so she could do so. No, Sweetie. Cause remember? This is the day that all the diapers go away unless we’re sleeping. Once I had denied her a few times and she realized I meant business, she unleashed the biggest tantrum I have ever witnessed. As in she was hurling objects down the stairs, over the banister, across the room – all while screaming at the top of her lungs and simultaneously crying and kicking and screaming.

And I let her. I let her get all her do-not-take-the-diapers-away rage out. I stayed close by to make sure she didn’t do anything that could cause injury. At this point, Crosby was awake because it’s just not possible to sleep through a disruptive demonic possession, so I did my best to keep him out of harms way and happily distracted. As Addy raged on, I hugged her when she let me, telling her it was all going to be okay, acknowledged that I understood she was mad and wanted to wear a diaper, but it was time for undies. And then we had a break through. In the best way a three-year-old can explain their feelings, she told me she didn’t want to wear underwear because she didn’t want to be a big girl. She wanted to be a baby like Crosby. And then it all clicked for me. I explained that no matter how big she got and even if she stopped wearing diapers, she would always be my baby. She asked to go into the Pack N Play like she used to when she was little, so I set it up for her. She asked for a rattle. And I gave her one. She started pretending to be a baby, and I went with it. This was the regression everyone talks about when a sibling shows up, she just waited a while to let it show. And after a few minutes in the Pack N Play, it was all okay. She calmed down. Was totally cool with no diapers. Had an accident. I told her it was okay, they happen. Left for a playdate at her grandma’s house, where she sat on the potty several times without luck. Peed in her Pull Up during nap time, came home and we had a mini version of the earlier battle. She had an accident. I told her it was okay, but had her remove the dirty pants, socks and undies and walk them to the clothes hamper herself. She peed in her Pull Up at bedtime. And then woke up on Saturday, let me take the Pull Up off and started using the potty.

Just like that. I gave her a treat every 30 minutes for keeping her pants dry, a bigger treat for just sitting on the potty and trying and a bigger treat, huge celebration and stickers and a prize for the first time she got the pee in the potty. By the end of the day, she walked herself to the bathroom alone, used her stool to climb up to the potty, pulled her pants down and pooped. And you could see the pride on her face. It was a great moment.

In three attempts at potty training, I very clearly see the things that helped make it work and the ways Joey and I thwarted our own efforts. This post is almost as epically long as our potty training battles, so I’ll save the rest for my next post. Along with an update on the poop and pee and where it’s landing, because as a parent, I can talk about my kids bodily functions as if I were discussing the weather.

• ← Until next year, Summer
• What I know about the potty →