Potty Time

It's strange how having Rachel has made me more protective in some areas and more laid back in others.
Thankfully, one of the things I have relaxed on is my attitude toward potty training.
I used to throw potty training into the MOM Competition.  "What," I would say to my toddler, "You're not getting this in one day like ____'s kid? How can you do this to ME?  What will the other MOMS say???"  Potty training seemed like a mark to reach as a mother.  If my child wasn't getting it, put a big ol' mark on the failure side of the MOM wall.
Well, I'm over that now.
I am no longer succumbing to the temptation of making this some sort of personal achievement as a mother.  Your 9 month old is potty training genius?  Good for you!  Post your method on Pinterest, but I won't repin it anyway.  Potty training is like giving birth in its unpredictability.  You could do it 10 times and the 11th time will be different from the others.  I'm sure some children can train in a day, but I can't handle that kind of pressure, so how can my 2 year old?
All of my children have approached potty training differently.  Landen was a couple weeks past his third birthday, and it wasn't from lack of trying, bribing, scolding, and naked running around the yard. I was coming to accept that he would just ride out life in diapers until he became a senior citizen and it was once again acceptable.  Finally, with a little help from drops of food coloring in the toilet water (we had tried everything else), he decided that, yes, if he could change the water different colors, he would conform to this practice of using the toilet.
Nathan potty trained in one day with hardly any help from me at all.  His brother taught him how to pee on a tree.  Is there anything more fun than THAT?  Poop took a few more months, but wet pants were no longer a problem for the most part.
Teresa potty trained for almost a year, as I've documented on this blog, staying dry when she had to away from home and wetting when she knew a clean set of clothes was close by.  Often, she would pee while sitting on my lap in public just because.  (UGH!)
Now it's our Rachel's turn, and really, I'm not sure how it's going yet.  I started her in padded underwear on Friday and then our weekend and Monday morning were out of our normal routine.  She has gone in the potty chair and toilet, she likes getting an M&M, but she doesn't always make it in time.  OK, she hardly ever makes it in time.  She does NOT like feeling wet, though, so that is a small step in the right direction.
Yesterday, as I was reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear for the millionth time on the blue footstool next to her froggy potty, I had a little flash of appreciation.
I never thought I would appreciate the potty training process, but I did in that moment.
She WILL get it, even if it takes longer than I think it should.
And then she'll be on to the next thing.
What she will take from it is being an acceptable member of society.
What I will take from it is memories of time spent sitting beside my little girl reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Olivia, and Big Tractor.

Just like anything in life, the poopy pants won't last forever.

I might as well appreciate them while they're here.