Potty Like A Rockstar

We started potty training Vesper last week. We started off slow. I put her in pull-ups over the weekend (the kind with the design that fades when wet) and talked a lot about how she can't potty in her pull-up- always making sure to NEVER refer to them as diapers- and asking frequently if she still had her bow/ flower/ seashell as were the various designs. Then that following Monday, I had her run around bottomless. I cleaned up a few messes here and there, and she had a few fits as I rushed her to the potty the first couple of times, but over all, her response was positive. I attribute this to one thing: treats.

Vesper sharing her "potty treats" with Lucy

Apparently, my child will do anything for a couple of sweet tarts and some dollar store toys. By day two, she was going regularly as I reminded her and staying dry during nap time. By day three, she was dry over night and asking to go potty. In the past week, we've only had two accidents, one occurring because of a stomach virus. We also took a road trip and didn't have any issues. I'm just shocked. It's not supposed to the be this easy, right?

I would love to tell you that we used some sort of tried and true method, but the truth is that I think God was really gracious in increasing my patience and enthusiasm with her over the past week. I made sure that she never felt ashamed or frustrated during the times in the first couple of days that she didn't make it to the potty, and I made a huge deal out of it when she was successful. We even went so far as to sing what became known as "potty anthems," where I would take various songs with the word "party" in it and change it to "potty." For example, "Potty Like A Rockstar," and "Potty Rock," and "Potty In The USA." They were a pretty big hit, although her favorite was a chant set to the conga rhythm. Yeesh. The ridiculous things we do for our kids...

I can't believe how much she's grown. It seems like just yesterday I was stressing out over sleep-training her, and now I'm shopping for a twin-sized bed for her to sleep in. By herself. With no pacifier. And no diaper. It's like she's not even a baby anymore or something! It's not right!

But I digress. All of this to say that I'm truly impressed by her maturity throughout the process and I'm extremely grateful to God for answering my prayers for patience in my heart and peace in hers. I think the Lord really uses the strangest situations to speak to me sometimes. Training up my children has resulted in more training of myself than I ever imagined, and I wouldn't trade it for the world!
xo,
Chels