No One Tells You the Ugly Parts

Sorry for my short hideous last week. I blogged on Monday and turned around and it was Friday. Seriously last week was the longest, shortest week. The Logan family is over the hump in potty training and all I can say is potty training is for the birds. No one tells you that it is probably one of the hardest things you will do as a parent, at the point I seriously haven't experienced anything this difficult. I mean seriously y'all I had two fever blisters and a mouth ulcer from potty training. 

I thought that in honor of being over the potty training hump, yes I do believe we officially have a big girl in the house, I would give my readers the top 5 list of things a.) to buy b.) to brace yourself for. 

1. Cozy Green Potty Seat 2. Step Stool 3. Potty Cover (for public restrooms) 

4. Treats 5. Pull Ups (we call them nighttime panties, we aren't nighttime trained yet)

This was our third, yes you heard me, third attempt at potty training. You just can't force a stubborn child to do anything, even when you know they are ready. Elin had all the signs of being ready at 18 months, but she is a stubborn, take it all in kind of girl so the first attempt was a failure. We tried the whole set a timer, take her when it went off every 15 minutes approach. First of all it is exhausting and annoying for both parties. She hated it, I can't blame her who wants to sit in the bathroom all day.

Second attempt included a multitude of things: run around naked, set timer, sticker chart, celebrate, watch videos while sitting on the potty, little potty, big, potty, etc., etc., etc. Elin's thoughts on this approach were to scream bloody murder at the mention of the word potty. Hence, why our second attempt included a million things. We lasted two days with her telling us she would just use her diaper and we caved. See stubborn!

Third attempt, I just decided not to stress as much, emphasis on as much! Elin is a planner, but this time I decided not to even discuss with her prior to the day. I just woke up one day and said today is the day. Went in her room told her it was the day and that there were no more diapers in the house her size. I did not set a timer and just decided either she tells me, has an accident, or I just ask her if she needs to go. At first she was resistant telling me she would just use her diaper, come on girl! However, I quickly was trying to think of a reward that she would go for. She already watches TV before bedtime and nap time, not much of a reward if you already get to do it. She does not however get to use our iPhones, and my dad (grandparent privilege) lets her watch his iPad, she loves it. He downloaded Kid YouTube, and for whatever reason she loves to watch "Peppa Pig" on his iPad, and we have the weird child who likes to watch other kids take their toys out of packages, who knows? I decided to tell my stubborn child that if she would just go to the potty she would get a special treat (Sour Patch Kids, don't judge I know they are loaded with sugar), and get to play on B's iPad, aka watch Peppa Pig. Worked like a charm. We celebrated, we put stickers on the chart, and we got 8 minutes of Peppa Pig time after we went potty. With only a couple accidents the first three days, she figured it out pretty quickly. Now the whole number 2 business, different story. That took one accident and she had it completely figured out. Plus, the Mr. promised to take her to her favorite place, Chick-fli-a, every time she went number 2 in the potty. We ate Chick-fli-a three days in a roll, and then we decided that we could just stick to eating there on Saturday's, to expensive to do every time, plus she has the hang of it now. 

All I can say about potty training is every kid is different. The biggest challenge is figuring out what works best for your kid. I am sure Baylor will completely different from Elin, but hey I told you it was the hardest thing a parent has to do in the early years.