Sunday, September 20, 2009

Adventures in Potty Training, Part 2

It's actually been over a month since we started this wacky potty training thing, and I can't believe how far we've come. It has not always been smooth (I have a new cheek wrinkle since August), but I am immensely proud of my daughter. And, heck, I'm even proud of myself.

Potty Training, Week 1
Things went ROUGH. In fact, I considered calling it quits many times, but I kept hearing my mom's voice in my head--BE CONSISTENT.

Well, the only thing consistent about that first week was my constantly being covered in pee. Or cleaning up pee. Or watching Em's bum like a hawk.

We survived because of great friends and their support. Luckily, Em and I have a friend (WMDS on this site) who recently went through this with her daughter. She was very understanding, even when Em unloaded a gallon of pee right in front of her. Nice.

PT, Week 2
We had a couple challenges this week. First, Em had a birthday party to go to without me. The same patient friend from week 1 was willing to help out and take Em for me because I had a wedding. I was seriously considering smacking a diaper on her, but then Em brought a tear to my eye and a hope to my heart with the words: "Mommy, I have to go potty." And she went potty. It was glorious.

And short lived. Later that night, she totally whizzed on the carpet in front of my sister and brother-in-law. They were fine, but I think they started to understand my pain a bit.

PT, Week 3
I was actually very excited for week 3 because Em was going back to day care. Cherie, our provider, is super helpful and gives fantastic advice. I was a little nervous because I didn't want to overwhelm Cherie and cause her unnecessary clean up. I mean, if it's your own kid, it's one thing, but someone else's...not so great.

Em used pull-ups at daycare and underwear at home. We still had a ton of messes at home, but slowly but surely she started to use the potty.

PT Week 4/5
Em went another week in pull-ups at daycare and then Cherie said the magic words: "Underwear is fine." So Monday morning I dressed her in underwear and we really haven't looked back.

That's not to say everything is honky dory. I had an unpleasant, messy morning. Number 2 is not going well. But we went away a couple weekends ago and Em had zero accidents. She even used a diner potty. And this Friday, we were at a restaurant and she grabbed my hand and asked to go to the potty. Amazing.

I knew this day would come. I just wasn't sure how. Now that I can almost say we are potty trained, I am not ashamed to admit that I am more than a bit proud of myself. But I am really amazed by my wonderful, ever-growing brave little girl.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Oh, Wow

I cannot even remember the last time I blogged, or what I blogged about.

Here's why:

* It started last Wednesday, with an all day meeting in which I actually had to be two places at one time, so of course I screwed two major things up. Yay. Then I had class all night.
* Thursday I had Back-to-School Night, and I don't mean to be Ms Snarky-Pants but I HATE BTS. No parents ever show (oh, excuse me I had 20 this year), and it makes for a really long day. When parents come they only want to talk about their specific kid. I think that a parent-teacher type thing would work better, but I don't see school officials rushing to give up the old tradition of BTS.
* So then, Friday I had to rush home and pack super quick for a weekend trip to Fort Bragg for my dad's birthday. I was very excited about the weekend, but not so much about the four hour plus drive. That excitement quickly turned to uneasiness when I realized what a twisty road we would take. And sure enough, 2 hours outside of Fort Bragg, Em puked. Lovely. Nothing like cleaning out the car at a gas station in a little town that has to be in the running for Meth Capital of California.
* Once we moved past the vomit, the actual weekend was a lot of fun. Maybe too fun because Justin and I got home and realized how much work we had to do this week. Four day weeks seem like a good idea, but one always has to get the same amount of work done in fewer days.
* Tuesday and Wednesday were painful blurs, but Thursday sure sticks in my mind. During the middle of the night on Wednesday, my number came up for getting sick. Really sick. I have been tremendously lucky and have not been sick in years, but I guess my time was up. So I missed school on Thursday. And really I was okay with that.
* Today, Friday, was a little rough, but I made it through. I did what I had to and cut back on what I could. Couldn't get out of the 100 degree football game duty, and I had to bring Emerson because Justin got sick, but we made it through.

After this little recap, I have two things planned: a beer and bed. Ahhhhhhhhh.