pa-wree (potty)

It has begun.

My single-most dreaded parenting phase (at least until the teenage years): potty training.

I haven’t been in a hurry for this one, and honestly, still am not. But, we are taking steps to sort of prepare for it, and while I don’t want to get ahead of anyone here, Skyler seems to be in much more of a hurry than we are. Sure, I’ll take it!

– She knows what poop and pee are, though doesn’t seem to recognize before the fact.
– She loves to be present during Mommy & Daddy’s necessary bathroom trips, and likes to tell us what we’re doing, get the toilet paper ready, and flush the toilet.
– She wants to take her pants off and sit on the big toilet, though of course we have to help hold her up there. She likes to go through the act of wiping and flush her own toilet paper.

I talked to Darlene at her daycare last Wednesday to let her know we were thinking about potty training, and ask her thoughts on the subject, as well as coordinate the efforts for consistency. She was very adamant that we don’t rush Skyler (no problem here since I’m dreading it anyway), and that she didn’t think Skyler was anywhere near ready. Though she did mention Skyler liked to join her friend Sydney in the bathroom when Sydney goes. Okay, well nevermind then, I thought.

The very next day, Skyler pooped in the potty. AT DAYCARE.

Darlene was as shocked as I was. She said when Sydney went, Skyler wanted to sit down next, so she half-seriously told her “You can’t get up unless you pee-pee or poop, and then you can have a jelly bean.” She said Skyler wanted to stay in there, and after about ten minutes of quietly sitting, she succeeded. Darlene and Sydney both cheered for Skyler, though she showed no reaction whatsoever.

So I went and bought a potty. And Skyler was been obsessed with it since we brought it home yesterday. It’s her “pa-wree” and she carries it everywhere, sitting on it all the time, or putting Pink Bear on it. Her Grandma Oswald told her yesterday to “make it brown”, after which Skyler has been chanting that same phrase like a mantra every time she sits on it. My daughter is weird.

Today after her bath, I let her sit on the potty before putting her diaper on, and of course she wanted to stay there and play for awhile. I checked on her after a few minutes and sure enough, she pee-pee’d in it! She still didn’t act like she knew that was any big deal, but I cheered, we clapped our hands, and went through the motions of wiping, flushing, and washing hands.

I guess she’s into it – at least she’s not afraid of it or completely clueless. We’ll just keep on playing it by ear and who knows, maybe she’ll be potty trained a lot easier than I was expecting! Or not, but at least she’s off to a good start.