December 24th, 2011 by Busy Mommy

Newsflash: Nolan and I have officially started an unplanned potty training period.  I say unplanned because I’ve had it in my mind to pursue at some point the next couple months, but was hoping to wait till after a tax filing that’s due January 16th as I have what seems like myriads of transactions to enter into quickbooks, not to mention a lot of other things too.  I say Nolan because he’s really the one who initiated it.  I’ve kind of been waiting for him to be ready and lead the potty training way.  I know some people think that’s stupid and that no child will ever be ready on their own- saw a lady on youtube with a published book talking about that- well, maybe not their kid- but Nolan is different.  He has a very independent nature that makes him want to be like us and learn how to do things on his own the way it’s supposed to be done.

I’d say for a good month now I’ve been kind of prepping him- mentioning to him frequently that pretty soon he wouldn’t need diapers anymore, and pretty soon he would pee and poo in the toilet instead.  Pretty soon he would get to wear underwear like mommy and daddy.  I had already bought some and had them laying around and so he could see them.  Later both grandmas told me that he tells them the same thing I’ve been telling him regarding this when they change his diaper.  Cha-ching!!  Didn’t know it was really sinking in!

So even though the timing was probably the worst it could be, when Nolan got out of his bath the other night and didn’t want to put any clothes on, and then wanted to put his underwear on, I figured, eh, why not?  I didn’t think it would be good to start telling him “no don’t wear underwear….no don’t pee in the toilet…” just because potty training wasn’t fitting in my schedule just yet.  That would be one of the worst mixed signals a poor kid could get right?  So…we began- at 8pm on a weekday night no less.  He was so excited to be wearing underwear and really the enthusiasm has been going strong for 3 days now- he is super exuberant and vivacious- I think he feels very grown up and independent and that makes him feel good inside.  It’s pretty adorable.  And of course, the excitement is even greater since the grandmas’ bought him cooler underwear- who wants to wear plain green underwear when you can have Thomas the Train and Mickey Mouse printed on your be-hind.

So how has, not the decision to, but the actual potty training, gone so far?  Let’s just say so far you could say Nolan has completely and utterly spoiled me.  Especially compared to the tales I’ve heard.  We put on his underwear, and we are the computer for a bit.  I have been repeating to him a lot, “we never pee in our underwear, we never poop in our underwear, only in the toilet”- so of course he repeats it to me too.  Anyway- he was sitting on the computer chair and he started peeing, stopped himself and said “mommy peepee!” We headed to the bathroom and he finished in there.  I was so impressed that he was catching on that quickly!  He caught himself just a little into it a few more times, and after that he’s been runnin’ with the big kids!  The only major “trial” if you can even call it that is after washing his sheets and comforter 4 times when he peed all over in his sleep for a couple of days, I realized that he would benefit from a nightime and nap diaper for now- poor kid can’t control what’s happening while he’s sleeping!  But other than that, during the day he has been spectacular at letting me know when he needs to go- or if I don’t hear from him in awhile on that subject I suggest he try.  Then if he says no, I insist. 🙂

I have a smaller potty seat that fits onto our larger one that he is using at home, and a little potty chair that sits in my suv trunk perfectly.   It wasn’t ideal, but the first morning of potty training I had to go to Berkeley Bowl for groceries (remember this potty thing was totally unplanned- literally the minute he wanted to put his underwear I decided we’d give it a try)- he did fine the whole time and on the way home he said “mommy peepee please!”  I pulled over in a jiffy and he was able to use the potty in the car with no problem.  It was great!  I feel all set up for just about any situation now.  The only day that was a little discouraging was a day that I myself was feeling very tired and drained;  we were at the park and of course he was running and jumping around with the other kids there, so he just kept forgetting and I’d see him walking all funky with both pant legs wet all down the sides.   So we had to change his clothes three times.  But again- perfectly normal-  it was just me that was tired that day- if I was smarter I wouldn’t have included 2 hours at the park right at the beginning of his potty training- um hello, earth to mommy!!!

Today there hasn’t been any accidents at all, and he’s a happy camper.  I’m almost afraid to write all this- maybe it’s too good to be true that it would be this easy- maybe in 4 days the stars in his eyes will fade and the toilet and underwear in general will become something he wants to be done with and start peeing everywhere.  Well, even if there’s a few struggles, pee is sterile, so a few accidents won’t cause too much damage.

Maybe someday when Nolan’s 12 he’ll make me take this post down out of sheer embarrassment- I’ll probably have to abide to spare his feelings- but of course for me, nothing about Nolan’s growing up is embarrassing- it’s just adorable and such a joy to watch.