why we LOVED potty training

Mia has officially been potty trained since... the end of November 2015 and I'm just now getting around to posting about our experience, oops! Guys, I was terrified, terrified of potty training! But in the end, Mia and I both loved the process and I couldn't be happier with how smooth the transition was!

Christy Brown Photography

Mia went pee on the potty for the first time the day after Thanksgiving 2014. We had her sit on the potty each night after that to try and pee before her bath, and she did almost every single night! Other than that, she showed no signs of being interested in potty training. I found out I was pregnant just a couple weeks after Mia turned 2, and as exhausted as I was, I was totally okay with waiting to potty train until Mia was interested, instead of forcing her into it. As I progressed with my pregnancy, my patience grew short and I decided I would just wait until after James was born to deal with potty training. Mia deserved a patient mom through the process, and I also feared a regression period after the baby was born... there was no way I was potty training twice if it could be avoided ;)
During a moment of weakness just a couple months before my due date, I let Mia pick out some underwear from the store. When we got home she begged me to let her wear them, so I did! I mean, why not? Maybe I'd get lucky and she'd magically be potty trained... in 20 minutes she peed twice in the toilet, and twice in her underwear (aka, all over the floor) Who even pees that much in 20 minutes?! You better believe I had just talked myself out of potty training for like, ever, ha ha! Two kids in diapers forever couldn't be that bad, right?! ;)
After James was born, we had a Disneyland trip planned for mid November. I didn't want to deal with a newly potty trained Mia on vacation, so I gave us to be finished with diapers once we got back. Every day we talked to Mia about potty training, explaining the process (as we had been doing for a few months by this point) and let her know that when we got back from vacation, it would be time to start potty training and her diapers would be all gone. I almost chickened out when we got home, but I knew it was time. Mia was ready!

When Mia woke up the next morning... and she was magically potty trained! I kid, I kid ;) But it did seem that way! She picked out Cars underwear (that we bought in the boy section, ha!) and she had one, maybe two (this is what I get for waiting so long to recap, I can't remember exact details!) tiny accidents where she started to pee, but caught it and held it while we ran to the potty. I told her that McQueen and Mater got SO sad that they were dirty which made Mia sob (ha ha) then we picked out Ariel underwear and I reminded her that Ariel would be so sad if she got peed on... and that was it! I kept wondering all day what all the fuss was about when people cried and complained over potty training.... until I remembered that one 20 minute underwear wearing session a few months back... HA! It took Mia 2 or 3 days to poop but once she did, I was ridiculously excited for her and did the goofiest congratulatory dance which Mia deemed "the POOPY dance!" and demanded that I do it each time she went after that, ha ha! I wish I had a secret for how easy it was for her to do her business as I know a lot of kids struggle with that, but Mia made the connection that first time she went, and that's all it took! I did make Mia wear her diapers (I called them her "special sleeping underwear" but Mia is no fool. She knew they were her diapers and I was too cheap to buy pull ups since I was trying to use the last of her diapers, ha ha.) during nap and bed time, but after a week of that she refused to wear them. I was super nervous about her waking up to a wet bed but after her nap she was totally dry. She has yet to wet the bed!! She has had a few accidents since potty training... Occasionally she gets too busy playing and doesn't stop to use the bathroom, but other than that, she has been the queen of potty training and I couldn't be prouder!

So why did we love potty training so much? Aside from it being incredibly easy (which I attribute to all the talking/explaining we did on the subject, being so close to the age of 3 and could really understand what we were saying and a year of peeing on the potty every single night) the process actually brought us closer together. On our first day of potty training I had nothing on my agenda other than keeping my kids fed and running Mia to the potty. Not only was I able to do that, but I cleaned house, did laundry, played games with Mia and cuddled James. That was all before nap time. I hadn't even accomplished half of that in a whole day in the 2 months that James joined our family!! I felt like I reconnected with myself and my kids and it was just what I needed! Who knew that potty training would pull me out of survival mode, when I assumed it would pull me deeper into survival mode?! Now I'm crossing my fingers and toes that we luck out with this easy of a time when it's James' turn ;)