Roller Coaster of the Potty!

I am so happy that I gave the 3-day potty training method a fourth day! We started on Easter Sunday. The first day had some accidents, but Cam showed some interest in the potty, and responded well to our frequent, "Remind us when you need to go, OK?"

Monday, less accidents, but when I included the friendly reminder, she would veritably roll her eyes and say in a huff, "OK!" By the end of Monday, Cam and I were both super bored. She had seen Elmo Potty Time three times and could already see through all the tricks I was trying to pull to make going on the potty seem appealing.

Tuesday was a day of more accidents than successes. It was a rainy day too, so we were housebound and not very interested in the potty at all. Again, we were both hella bored. At the end of the day, I was feeling quite discouraged, and so was our little gal I think. On this day, whenever I reminded her to let me know when she got that "feeling" she would yell, "MOM, I don't have to go RIGHT NOW!" That night, after an accident that seemed to me like Cam was pretty much saying "F-you!" to the potty, she cried and cried while we changed her out of her wet undies and pants. I layed down with her to put her to sleep moments later and told her that I know she's working really hard and I am so proud of her, to which she responded, teary-eyed, "Mama, it's hard." That's about enough to break a mama's heart right there.

Luckily, Tuesday night Joel and I had a nice date out to Flour + Water and I was able to regain my perspective, have some adult conversation and renew my strength and moral fortitude to give potty training day 4 a concerted effort. You'll see above, that Wednesday, I decided not to heed all potty training advice that says you should leave the potty in the bathroom. A break in the weather let me bring the potty outside, and that's when it clicked for Cam. She went potty something like 13 times in a row, emptying the potty herself each time on the newly christened potty-rock. She wanted to do it all by herself, so I let her.
She was doing so well, and we both were so cabin-feverish, that we packed up the potty in the wagon and went to the supermarket and to Cheeseboard. She didn't have to use the potty publicly, for which I was glad. I envisioned busting that sucker out in the middle of the freezer aisle at Adronico's to the disgust of just about the whole world, including myself - luckily that didn't happen. Wednesday didn't have a single accident. I was beaming with pride for my "big" girl.

I know that I can't take credit for Cam's triumphs in this respect, but I can't help but feel like it's a personal accomplishment too - if for no other reason, simply making it through these days. I also know that there are weeks ahead of accidents and potty training struggles, but I feel like we've cleared a significant hurdle. Whew!

Today, as I sit grading papers (best Spring Break ever!), I can't help but miss my girl. I wonder how she's doing with her potty at Dolma, but mostly am just lonesome for her and wish I had weeks full of Cam more often. This week helped me to decide that, money be damned, I am only going to teach one session of summer school, giving me a better chunk of the summer to focus on my squirrel...

...because she is quite the bundle of fun.