MAKING BUBBLES

 The aftermath

So we're officially into potty training 4 days now. The first day sucked rocks. Big time. By 10 a.m the second day she understood what it meant to "go on the potty." The first time she realized she was doing her business on the potty she said, "Oh I made bubbles!" So now that's the cue for her to actually pee. For the remainder of day 2, as long as I stayed on her like white on rice - she didn't have any accidents because the minute I'd sit her on the potty she'd "make bubbles."

 Twenty four hours later, however, was a whole other story. She had already wet through about 6 pairs of big girl undies by 10 a.m and I was so discouraged that she wasn't telling me when she needed to go! She would still do "bubbles" on the potty if I put her on it... but I was expecting her to tell me most of the time she had the urge. Well, by noon yesterday I felt like a total failure and I was milliseconds away from just putting her back into a diaper because I was so overwhelmed at the idea of these continual accidents happening. How long were they going to go on? I wondered. It is so much more convenient to just stick a diaper on and have my freedom back... I justified. 

But then after many, many, many, moments of crying and seeking advice from close friends and family, I decided we've come too far and MY freedom is not worth sacrificing LAYLA'S learning and growth.  So despite feeling like a total failure and being so angry that Layla was not telling me yet that she needed to make bubbles accurately, we have kept on trucking through the process. 

And I should mention that I had really attempted to just wing it for the first 3 days without following a book or any type of "program." Stupid idea sday, the one time I decide NOT to have a plan... stupid stupid stupid. POTTY TRAINING NEEDS A PLAN PEOPLE! I don't care what system you chose, but I think that following a system is what helps a person be consistent and that is what helps the child understand exactly what skill it is that we're asking them to master. 

So after a tearful phone conversation with a friend and debating quitting and just putting all this added stress off until next year - I decided to follow an Ebook that my friend emailed me. I'm not sure the exact name but it's awesome and it's working beautifully. The whole idea of the program is for the child to learn quickly how to tell you that they have the urge. Layla so quickly learned the first step which was "how to make bubbles" but she was sooo soooo sooo not understanding how to give me warning - or how to feel her body warn her. But with this program we're following, she is figuring it out rather quickly. In fact, I have been interrupted twice while typing this post because she has given me cues that she needed to go and she was able to run to the bathroom and climb onto her princess potty before making her bubbles. It wasn't the ideal "Mom, I need to go potty!" statement I am still waiting to hear, but it was something to the affect of "I need a diaper change" which was an immediate trigger in my mind that the goods were about to arrive :) If you know what I mean! 

So... day four brings a feeling of hope. I'm looking foreword to what day 5-6-7 will bring and I'm praying really hard that it will bring more success and the ability for her to tell me she needs make bubbles. As long as I don't end up with a sink full of Th0mas the Tra1n undies at the end of each day - I'll be happy. Yes, she picked out boy undies. And I rather like that about her.