Pee Peee...All Aboard the Potty Train!

It's been a long time coming.

Mind you, when it came to potty training, I took a rather relaxed attitude. I figured when she was ready, she'd go. I don't know when or why, but this week, the light switch flipped. We're 4 days in & have had only 2 accidents, one of which may have been the work of a leaky sippy cup, but that has yet to be determined. When she was about 21 months old, our daughter, Macy, started showing signs of being ready for potty training; she'd pull her pants down, take off her diaper and pee...on the floor. Excited that our monthly allotment of "diaper" dollars could actually be redirected to other things, we high-tailed it over to Target and bought her a potty chair. I got a pack of Dum Dum lollipops and told her that every time she peed or pooped, she could have a "potty pop."

Our enthusiasm waned quickly when Macy wanted nothing to do with it. It sat there in our bathroom for months, opposite our "grown-up"potty, with not so much as one touch of a little tush. Actually, I take that back. There WERE little tushes that sat on it...Tickle Me Elmo kept the seat warm for at least 2 weeks. Then, there was "Mingo," the zoo souvenir pink flamingo stuffed animal who kept watch for us. I think I once spied Raggedy Ann, too.

Then came the "Mommy, I have to go potty" (at the most inopportune time) phase. Oh yes, as a mom, after you hear those 6 words uttered from the mouth of your babe, you quickly learn where to find every public toilet within a 30 second radius from wherever you may be at the time because those words are not uttered when one is at home. Those 6 words came at me from the backseat on the highway while I was driving in a thunderstorm and had to turn down the radio so I could concentrate on making sure I didn't hydroplane into a tree. They were also yelled at me from the stroller in the middle of my StrollerFit(www.strollerfit.com) class where I was clear across the park from the port-a-potties. That time, I told her to just let it go into her diaper; I knew we'd never make it. The bad think is that it became a bit of a game. I'd hear those 6 words and go scampering around like the Marx brothers to find a potty, get her "commandoed" and on the seat only for her to look at me and say, "Mommy, I aw dun." WHAT? Surely, you're joking, right? Nope. Most recently, however, Macy, the human 3 yr. old, began joining my husband & I whenever we used our potty. She would sit on it and have us read story after story, but still, it didn't happen. More time passed. Then, last weekend, lightning struck. It was Saturday morning and I didn't really have any huge plans. I was looking forward to kind of a kick back type of day where I could take things as they came to me. Then, I had an idea. I went upstairs and retrieved the potty chair we purchased over a year before and a pair of the Elmo panties that Macy had picked out at the store one day ( the result of a failed incentive). I placed the potty on the floor near our sofa where Macy would have clear easy access. I put "Charlotte's Web" into the DVD player and let Macy lounge around. Oh... I almost forgot the most important element...she had decided she no longer wanted to wear her PJs and diaper, so she took them off. Knowing that if she did pee on the carpet, it wasn't the end of the world because I needed to call Stanley Steemer out anyway, I decided to proceed with my experiment. Out of nowhere, she came into the laundry room where I was folding clothes and said, "Mommy, I pooped in the potty! Come see!" Sure enough, there it was. "Mommy, can I flush it by myself?" she asks. "Sure," I say. "Show me what comes next." She executes the steps in perfect order. She's exploding with excitement and is clearly proud of herself. "Mommy, I have to go potty again," she says. She sits down and Wa-Lah...she pees. This goes on for the entire weekend. I did not have to prompt her, I didn't have to remind her, nor did I have to change any dirty diapers! I did, however, bestow upon her that pair of Elmo undies. She looked at me like I had just given her a bowl of ice cream for breakfast and started jumping up & down, clapping and laughing. "Thanks, Mom! I'll take good cawe Elmo!"