Wearing the Big Girl Panties

A few weeks ago I watched one of those weird obsession shows late at night and it traumatized me. I don't want my child wearing diapers at age 22 and sleeping in a big crib and drinking out of a baby bottle. Shortly after the traumatizing event, I went on to Pinterest in order to bring happy thoughts into my brain and found an interesting post about the one day potty training.  But ya'll, I wasn't ready.  Then I realized that what I'm not ready for is a child to speak in full sentences and use the word "diagnosis" and still be in diapers.  I think "diagnosis" was my breaking point.

So this morning, I went gung ho.  And by gung ho I mean I was completely unprepared and had little to none of the items that were mentioned in the post that inspired all this craziness in the first place. But, I had Hershey's Kisses (thanks to the good folks at Hershey's who let me build an Easter basket. Yes, I still have Easter candy in the house, don't judge!).

And so, armed with 3T non-descript big girl panties, a potty, a piece of butcher paper, my mamiPad, my phone, unlimited amounts of water, a tiled floor and towels, I set off on the journey.

This is what I learned:

I can be the next Jane Fonda, with a twist.

If you ever want to lose weight, I suggest you call me and for the low low price of $19.99 I can send you a video of my potty dance. If you do that three times a week, you will lose weight (or at least gain muscle). I am exhausted. The level of enthusiasm was great. I can't say it was fake because I truly was ridiculously excited when she was going potty. I always am, you know.  All I can say is that I am going to sleep well tonight.

Apps on the mamiPad are cool but...

...only if they actually go off when the mamiPad is not on. I was happy when I downloaded iGo, the Pull Ups app. I didn't buy a timer (see earlier statement regarding my preparedness) and wasn't looking forward to trying to set 300 alarms in my phone. This app was great but, it wasn't going off unless I had it on constantly which I didn't. Fail.

Be mindful of who you call.

The post suggested you make calls to overly happy potty enthusiasts such as yourself in order to reinforce the behavior.  However, people with full time jobs working in an office setting might have a hard time getting as crazy about pee as you.

A mishap is still kinda cute.

Baby girl went on the floor as she was playing. Of course, this was after 2 potty sessions with no results.  Suddenly I hear "uh oh". As I get her to stand up she says "I'm sorry mami!" and looks so, so sad. It was kinda cute. I wish I had the camera but instead, I had to go clean up the mess.  I told her it was okay and that it was an accident. "assadent?" yes, baby, it was an assadent (<--new word bonus).

The stars ruled!

Although I was giving her positive reinforcement with kisses (the real and the Hershey's kind), I found that seeing me draw the stars on the paper above the potty did something for her.  When I asked her to count the stars with me, that seemed to open up a whole new window I didn't even realize was there.  I've always known she reacts well to PR (that's positive reinforcement, people) but I didn't realize how little it took.  Imagine if I actually prepared and had real stickers instead!

At the end of the night, we laid in my bed facing each other and talking about the day. I kept telling her how awesome she did (we only had 2 accidents, no wet diapers, though). Then she told me "mami, I do potty. I did it!" and it was as if she had learned a big secret in life.  I think she did. One that I will try my best to remind her as often as I can. You can do anything!

When she's in the White House one day, I will be sure to remind her that it all started on a rainy day, with tons of kisses, big girl panties and stars.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring but, that's another blog for another day.  Anyone out there potty training? How goes it with you?