Thursday, January 5, 2012

report from the trenches.


Last night we went to the store and Carly picked out a Lightning McQueen potty seat.
She also picked out Star Wars underwear ("with the robots on it!"),
but they only came in boys, so we talked her into Dora.

Today is day 1.
So far we've had absolutely no potty in the toilet.
And a lot of it all over the carpet.

Maybe that's a lie.
Maybe we've had two tinkles.
But I feel like I listen so hard and want it so bad, it could be my imagination.

We've got a good thing going, Chris and I.
We rush Carly into the bathroom, I sit her on the toilet and try to get her to go a little more and clean her up, and Chris breaks out the carpet cleaner. We're going to have some very clean carpet when this is over.

This afternoon the poor girl got discouraged.
She peed on the floor for like the third time in 20 minutes and started crying and said,
"I just want to go in the toilet!"
She knows exactly what she is supposed to do, and exactly how it is supposed to work.
She just seems to have a hard time identifying the signals from her body.
She seemed to get embarrassed and even downtrodden,
and it is pure heartbreak to watch your two-year-old get discouraged.
We are trying really hard to stay positive and upbeat.
Chris, of course, is better at it than I am.

I think she is "ready".
I wouldn't be trying if I didn't.
She is smart and communicative and "gets" it.
She just needs to catch on.
Honestly, she needs one successful, positive experience, and I think she'll fly.
But we just didn't get that today.
Hopefully we'll all recharge our positive attitudes and start fresh tomorrow.

Here's hoping tomorrow goes a lot better than today.

5 comments:

Stacey said...

She'll get it! Especially if she understands what she needs to do. I agree, once she gets it, she really get it! Good luck tomorrow. Stay positive. You can do it. It will be so great. And she'll be so happy too. :)

Taryn said...

I am sorry! I have never experienced this "joy" of parenthood, but I am already dreading it. Good luck with the next few weeks!!! I might start sooner than later with Stella, we shall see...

Alixa said...

Keep at it, she will get it!

Bradley and Nicole said...

I feel the pain and frustration you are going through. wE potty trained carson last month and lets say it was a battle for number 2 after two weeks of heck and almost saying forget it he did it once and hasnt had an accident since. it is so much better and worth it! Now I'm so glad I didnt give up. Its so nice! And we were all about rewards....he talks about his cars to strangers telling them he got them because he pooped in the toilet. I swear she wil get it and once it clicks it's there. Good luck!

Tina Crowther said...

I had to laugh. When we took Christopher to the store to pick out underwear, he chose Dora. We had to convince him to go with Thomas instead... hahaha. Good luck. It gets better. I really enjoyed it (once they caught on...)