Celebrate Your Potty Training Success With Dora - "We Did It!"

Want a really fun way to congratulate your kiddo on their potty training success? Whether to say "good job on today's potty use" or "you've mastered potty training once and for all", this clip of Dora saying "We Did It!" will make your little one's (and your!) day!

Co-Parenting Duties

My husband and I share parenting duties, and we try to make the roles as equal as possible. But there’s one area where my husband got the short end of the stick (don’t tell him I admitted that).

From the beginning, I’ve been the one focused on what goes in, and he’s taken the lead on what comes out.  

We didn’t plan it that way. But since I was breastfeeding, we just got in the rhythm of me doing most of the feedings and hubby changing more of the diapers. (No complaints here.)

Now my son is four years old and my girl is almost two. We’re way past breastfeeding and only my daughter is still in training pants--Pampers® Easy Ups.

But we still have our separate areas of expertise. My forté is still the food and my husband is on top of...well, what becomes of that food.

There have been many days on which I’ll ask him, “Did you feed the kids?”  And he’ll be like, “Oops, I forgot. They didn’t seem hungry.”  

On the flip side, he’ll ask me, “Did she poop?” and I’ll say, “Ummm..I think so...wait, maybe that was yesterday.”  

I’ve learned two lessons from this:

1) Change up the roles once in a while. If you’re the one taking care of kids by yourself for a weekend, you need to be on top of the whole digestive cycle.

2) Any time I feel like complaining about my husband, I should remember how many diapers he’s changed in the past four years. 

(If you repeat this to him, I'll deny that I said any of it.)

Flash Forward

Do you ever have those moments where your life just suddenly flashes forward and you can see your children as they will be when they are older?

That.just.happened.

Let's hope she is a better driver by then and that she isn't still wearing Pampers® Easy Ups -- even though it's super tempting to keep her in them forever -- wait, do they come in MUCH bigger sizes? ;) 

Diego's "We Did It!" Certificate

Here's a great Diego's "We Did It!" certificate rewarding your kid with a potty training success. My son loves certificates, and this one lets him practice writing his own name, to boot! 

What I've Learned

It's safe to say that my son is potty trained.

It's been over a month since he's had an accident. He still occasionally emerges from the restroom completely pantsless and he needs a little help at wiping time but for all intents and purposes the kid is OUT OF DIAPERS.

Looking back here is a brief summary of what I learned during this particular potty training journey:

PICK A DATE 

I've heard a lot of theories about "when to start". People will tell you that it is best to wait until your child displays "signs of potty readiness". Other people will tell you that you should start the day your child turns two, or the day they turn three. As I begin to train my third I've realized that there are no guidelines that will work for EVERY child. Definitely keep an eye out for signs of readiness (such as being able to tell you when their diaper is dirty and curiosity about the potty) but at a certain point it may be time to just pick a date and get started. If it’s really not happening, wait a month and try again - but the "right time" to potty train? In my experience that can be mighty difficult to define.

ANTICIPATE THE PITFALLS, BUT YOU MAY NOT SEE THEM ALL COMING

I had one kid who was kind of a lazy trainer. He didn't want to stop whatever super-fun activity he was engrossed in to stop and head for the bathroom. I had another kid who was worried that getting out of diapers would mean he was "no longer little" and had to work through that to train successfully. It can be really hard to predict where the potty training pitfalls will lie for any given child. My son wanting to use the potty again when his sister started to train? I didn't see that one coming. So, do some research before starting to train and know the common problem areas, but understand that you may face some hurdles that you didn't anticipate and be prepared to improvise.

USE REWARDS

I used candy rewards with my oldest hoping this would serve as a potty training shortcut but I was surprised to find that he was actually more motivated by a chart system. Figure out where your kiddo’s motivations lie and play to those strengths. The bottom line is that rewards can be super effective but you may need some trial and error to discover which rewards work best for your little one.

IT WILL HAPPEN

Above all, realize that while undertaking potty training may seem fraught, the reality is that for centuries kids have managed to figure this out - and yours will to. Don't worry about comparing yourself to other moms or operating on some pre-determined timeline. Work with your kiddo with patience and stay secure in the knowledge that he or she will succeed in time. No panicking moms! (Take it from me - it doesn't help!)

As I start training my third (and last) kiddo I wish you luck in your potty training adventure - I know I'll need some in mine and I thank you for walking through the process here with me.

I DID IT AND SO CAN YOU! (AND SO CAN I! AGAIN!)

I promise.

To Potty Or Not To Potty?

I’ve already mentioned how cute my 22-month-old is, right?  

One thing she does that I love is sit on her little potty next to her brother while he’s using the toilet. She thinks she’s “using the potty” even though she’s still in her Pampers® Easy Ups, and I’m pretty sure nothing’s coming out most of the time. But she likes to think she’s making use of it.

Here’s the thing. (Of course, I have to find an issue with it):

When my son was first potty training, I wondered whether we should have just gone straight to the toilet seat and skipped the potty all together. I mean, why not just have the pee or poop go into the toilet? Why give ourselves and the kids extra clean-up? Why not eliminate the middle-man?

But of course we kept the potty around, and now my daughter enjoys sitting on it. I’m not going to get rid of something that might assist in the potty training process.

So, I’ve devised a plan. When it’s time for her to actually take off her Pampers® Easy Ups and do her business, we'll introduce her to a toilet seat. Perhaps we’ll get a special one just for her. And she will love it and go in it on her own…and she will learn to wipe herself...and she will also teach herself to read!  

Why not?  Gotta dream big, right?

P.S. She likes to put Bear on the potty too.

Dora's Potty Training Confetti

Here's a fun project for both my kids together (oh, how I love those):
I just print out the paper sheet. Then I have my son help cut the strips (he's so into using his special safety scissors), and both my kids can roll it together. Then, when my daughter uses the potty, we all get to throw Dora's confetti in the air. Hurray!

Three Kids, One Room

We live in a two-bedroom house and have three children.

Which means that unless we are willing to have a child residing under the table, we need to get all three kids to sleep in the same room at the same time.

It hasn't been easy.

When you have one child sleeping in a room alone there is always a chance that something will go wrong on any given night. When you have three kids sharing a room the chances of something going awry increase exponentially due to what I call "the domino effect of disaster".

Allow me to illustrate with an example from my own life.

Our problems almost always originate with our two-year-old. She still takes a good nap in the afternoon and thus tends to be pretty wide awake at her brothers' 8pm bedtime. Once the boys fall asleep, it becomes imperative that she stay quiet so as not to wake them up.

The interaction that follows tends to go something like this:

8:45pm

ME: Shhh. OK, sweetheart. It's OK, here's a little pacifier. Time to go to sleep now.

TWO-YEAR-OLD: (singing) EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!!!!!!

ME: OK, shush now. Let's just calm down.

(Furious soothing of two-year-old begins)

TWO-YEAR-OLD: Look! I dancing!

(Shushing recommences)

THREE-YEAR-OLD: Mommy?

ME: Ugh! Go back to sleep! Your sister is almost asleep over here.

TWO-YEAR-OLD: MOMMY! I like applesauce!!!

THREE-YEAR-OLD: I'm going to have a bounce house for my birthday right? 

TWO-YEAR-OLD: (singing recommences at increased volume)

THREE-YEAR-OLD: RIGHT????

ME: We'll talk about it in the morning. Go back to sleep.

THREE-YEAR-OLD: (beginning to wail) I want to to have one!!!! I really want to!

(Shushing two-year-old, while attempting to make soothing gestures towards older son with right foot)

ME: OK, fine, we'll get one. Yes. Now be quiet.

TWO-YEAR-OLD: My baby doll is JUMPING!

THREE-YEAR-OLD: I WANT A BOUNCE HOUSE!!!!!!!

ME: FINE!!!! I SAID FINE!!!!

TWO-YEAR-OLD: WAH!

ME: Sorry baby, I wasn't yelling at you.

TWO-YEAR-OLD: Wah!

THREE-YEAR-OLD: And I want a construction cake!

ME: (over sounds of two-year-old's wailing) Oh, goodness!

(Suddenly, a voice from the toddler bed).

FIVE-YEAR-OLD: Mommy?

ME: NOOOOOOO!

TWO-YEAR-OLD: I love butterflies!!

FIVE-YEAR-OLD: Is it breakfast time? I'm hungry!

Cut to midnight, by which time husband and I have banished the two-year-old to a pack-and-play in the living room and convinced both boys to return to sleep with promises we'll surely regret in the morning.

We stagger back to bed, grumble in each other's general direction and attempt to grab some sleep before the next day begins at 6:30am. 

Yeah, it's really not going all that well. For the time being we are trying to shift nap times and figure out how to keep our two-year-old entertained quietly at bed time.

That - and we're desperately looking for a bigger house.