Bigger Picture Moment: Biting The Potty Training Bullet

Warning: This post contains such terrifying topics as toddler-poop and mama-avoidance.  I apologize in advance.

You know what I've been dreading for months now?  The task I've been ignoring and putting off and placing on the back burner due to my own reluctance?  My own laziness? 

Potty training. 

Yes, I've already successfully navigated this slippery, treacherous slope with one child, but that's what's been scaring me so much: last time was not easy.  There were battles of will, disgustingly sloppy accidents, and...um...more disgustingly sloppy accidents. 

I don't want to clean poo.  I just don't want to. 

But this time around, with Lauren, potty training has been an entirely different experience.  For one thing, she's pretty much initiated the process herself.  One day several weeks ago, she refused to wear clothes, stripping down to her bare skin -- no diaper.  Since she demanded nakedness, I sat her down and had a talk with her.  (As much of a talk as one can carry on with a 2-year-old.)  I told her that if she wasn't going to wear a diaper, she had to make sure she didn't pee on the floor.  She walked around naked for days repeating the mantra of "We DON'T pee-pee on the floor!" and shaking her head with gusto.  For the most part, she did well.  There was one spectacular afternoon in which I found her standing on a kitchen chair, concerned and curious about the pile of (ugh) poo at her feet, but those instances of extra-diaperial evacuation have been rare.

Furthermore, she's excited to use the potty.  She watches her sister and wants to be part of that club so badly that she'll simply follow her into the bathroom for a marathon session of pooping/playing.  (For the record, I'm completely fine with being excluded from this club.  I prefer...fresher...venues for meetings.)  She knows the ropes, and it's not a frightening process like it was for Mia.  Mia was the trailblazer, so Lauren walks on a blazed trail.  She's immune to the potty-fear that overcame her big sister. 

But most of all, what I've discovered with Lauren's foray into the great culture of Potty Land is that there is a difference in me.  Yes, I've avoided potty training.  Still, I do know what I'm doing this time.  (Sort of.)  I know what rewards will motivate my child to use the potty when she's otherwise invested in playing right through all her body's cues.  I've learned that I can't expect her to tell me she needs to use the potty -- I have to mandate regular potty breaks.  I understand how to pick up a pile of poop without letting any part of it touch my fingers lest I be forced to cut off my own hand.  (I've learned how to make inappropriate jokes about fecal matter.) 

And most importantly, I've learned that potty training isn't something to fear.  It's something to plow through when my child is ready (absolutely no sooner).  It's something exciting.  Especially when it's over, which it almost is in our house.  Lauren has been mostly clean and dry for more than a week.  (Party on potty people.)

What I didn't consider at the outset of this process is that potty training is different with every child.  The same way everything is different with every child.  I'm glad for the reminder, yet again.


Link up your own Bigger Picture Moment this week with Hyacynth at Undercover Mother.  We'd love to hear about the moments -- big or small -- that led you to focus on the important things in life: The Bigger Picture.