We have been potty training the boy for almost a year now. A year. He'll be three next Monday (cue sappy mom tears and tons of baby pictures, poop stained onesies and little, itty-bitty SOCKS).
I don't often feel like a failure as a parent. I tend to be fairly patient, understanding, kind, and loving. Except when it comes to potty training.
The thought of urine and feces on my living space drives me insane. I tend to be a clean person. I use the phrase "everything that has a place is in that place" daily.
Today is a failure kind of parent-type day. And here's why:
We
are back to potty training again (AKA my own personal hell) and DS is
doing pretty well today. He's only had 17 accidents (I'm exaggerating - a
tad), and we're flying high, singing the mantra of potty training days,
"where do we have to go pee or poo, Nick?" to which he happily replies, "in the potty!"
DS and DD are playing in his bedroom and I'm asking every 20 seconds because I'm nervous. He suddenly comes out of his room with a look on his face, I ask if he needs to go and he nods. So I rush him to the bathroom and he kicks me out (he's independent now, yo). So I wait. I hear the toilet seat going up and down, some shuffling, a lot of other noises so I peak in.
HE HAS POOPED HIMSELF EVERYWHERE AND IS PLAYING IN IT. I freak out, yell, strip him down, make him wash his hands and wipe him down. I'm about ready to cry and I'm seeing red. DD is in his room crying because she can't get out of the big toy bucket for all his trains.
I send him to his room after I've got him cleaned up to clean up the toys and put them in the big toy bucket that DD is currently standing in. After I've cooled down I change him into a diaper for nap time and sit him down on my lap. I apologize for yelling and getting angry and I tell him why I got angry. I ask him to forgive me and that we need to try harder to go in the toilet.
He tenderly leans into me and says, "I peed in the toy bucket."
DS and DD are playing in his bedroom and I'm asking every 20 seconds because I'm nervous. He suddenly comes out of his room with a look on his face, I ask if he needs to go and he nods. So I rush him to the bathroom and he kicks me out (he's independent now, yo). So I wait. I hear the toilet seat going up and down, some shuffling, a lot of other noises so I peak in.
HE HAS POOPED HIMSELF EVERYWHERE AND IS PLAYING IN IT. I freak out, yell, strip him down, make him wash his hands and wipe him down. I'm about ready to cry and I'm seeing red. DD is in his room crying because she can't get out of the big toy bucket for all his trains.
I send him to his room after I've got him cleaned up to clean up the toys and put them in the big toy bucket that DD is currently standing in. After I've cooled down I change him into a diaper for nap time and sit him down on my lap. I apologize for yelling and getting angry and I tell him why I got angry. I ask him to forgive me and that we need to try harder to go in the toilet.
He tenderly leans into me and says, "I peed in the toy bucket."
Sigh.
