Isabelle is now officially 2 and a half. While I've heard lots of stories about how I should really get on the ball with potty-training my daughter, I think secretly I was dragging my feet. In some ways diapers are the last stage of the baby times right? To give up on the diapers meant, I really had to face reality and come to terms with the fact that my daughter is a full-on child. Heck, some days I feel like she's just days away from packing up her stuff and going onto college (okay maybe a slight exaggeration).
We attempted the potty training business around 18 months and while we had great success at home, we just couldn't remain consistent on the days she went to school. The teachers there told me they didn't start enforcing the potty training efforts until the upper 2 year old classroom. So while Isabelle was very good about going for me on the days when I was at home, on the days she was at school, it was like we took three steps back for every step forward. And so, I gave up, I hit pause on the effort and decided to just enjoy where she was. Soon enough I knew she'd be in the older 2's room.
And soon enough arrived last week. Last week was her first full week in the new classroom and I knew they were working on the potty business right away. Amazingly she picked up her interest in going potty in the big girl potty, like we had never stopped trying. I even noticed how she stayed dry for several hours at a time and it was clear we had been going through a lot less diapers. Still I wasn't sure how this whole thing was going to go down. I'm a rookie at this... the boys came trained (as I tell everyone).
Yesterday, when I picked Isabelle up from school, Ms. Patty said to the other teacher Ms. Tisha, "what did we want to talk to Isabelle's mom about." Immediately I thought, "Oh no, Isabelle's bullying someone or doing something she's not suppose to... maybe she's taken up Maya's habit of biting everyone. I can see Isabelle saying it now, "Isabelle BITE CHEW (you)!" instead of her usual, "Maya bite chew" (pronounced: you). Thankfully Ms. Patty chimed in before my racing mind could continue. She said, "How do you feel about sending Isabelle to school in underwear tomorrow?"
Scraping all the worrisome thoughts to the back of my mind, I pulled out the last card I ever expected her to say, and tried to find the words to utter a response. "Uh, um, ah, well, I suppose. Do you think she's ready? I stuttered back. Ms. Tisha jumped in, "Oh yes, she's been doing such a good job in here of staying dry and telling us when she has to go. I think its time. How is she doing at home?"
"Well," I continued to try and find more words, "you know, she does pretty well with me." "I've been putting her in pull ups and she does pretty good." Ms. Patty, an expert potty trainer (and I say that because she's probably trained hundreds of 2-year-old, I think that qualifies her in owning the title), said, "I think we should give it a try. I think she's going to do great." At this point I was holding Isabelle so I turned to her and said, "Isabelle, do you want to wear big girl underwear to school tomorrow?" She smiled a huge smile and said, I go potty on the big girl potty!" I guess the next step was obvious and trusting their advice and Isabelle's desire, I agreed with their plan and said, "Isabelle will be back tomorrow with underwear!"
Right away, I was nervous. That's just how I get. With the two boys and Isabelle in tow, I knew our next stop was going to be Target to buy more underwear. I tried to hype up how big of a deal getting pretty new underwear was and we let Isabelle pick out the kind she wanted. It wasn't a hard decision and took less than 20 seconds. Minnie Mouse undies were in the cart and we were headed home.
Isabelle was so proud as we got home and she opened the package. She pulled out each and ever pair, inspected the picture on it and then tried them on over her diaper.
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| I think she's thinking, "Hmm, these look a little big don't they?" |
She's a true girl at heart. When Jarrett got home she ran to him and said, "Daddy, I got big girl underwear." She was clear just how proud she was.
Last night I washed all the undies, packed her several outfits and sat them by the door, almost like the boys do on the night before their first day of school. I was excited and nervous for her all at the same time.
This morning, we got her up and continued to cheer about how excited we were she was wearing big girl pants. She went potty on "the big girl potty", and put on her undies. When we arrived at school, Ms. Patty hadn't yet arrived so I very clearly told the younger two year old teacher that she was in underwear and to be aware! That was her warning sign, I made a big deal of it, obviously letting my nervous side show. She smiled and said, "Isabelle, you're such a big girl!" to which Isabelle smiled and said, "Ms. Uma!"
I left and went onto work, thinking about her at the most random times, wondering how it was all going. I thought about calling but figured for every one's sake, I'd let the teachers share the successes or ultimate failures in the process, highlight me only once.
I walked into the school this afternoon and went straight to pick her up. I opened the door to her classroom, was greeted by her normal high shriek and arms in the air, full on charge to get me to as quickly as possible. I picked her up, half expecting to feel the padding of a diaper, since I noticed her shorts were different than what I had dressed her in in the morning. Instead, I felt her bony butt, a sure sign she had underwear on under those clothes. I smiled, gave her kisses, and she said, "Mommy, I go potty in the big girl potty!" I cheered and her teachers echoed her comments. "Isabelle did great today. She only had one accident, this morning when she was with the young 2 year old room. They forgot she wasn't wearing a diaper." I was surprised. There was reason why I packed six extra outfits and 8 pairs of underwear. Ms. Tisha said, "Isabelle was dry with me all day, in fact she even woke up from her nap dry. I'd say this day was a success. Keep bringing her in underwear!"
As we walked out the door of the school, I couldn't help but feel like I had just brought her in at 6 weeks old, just a few months ago. Now I'm walking out with a 2 and a half year old, who is getting potty trained. My the time passes so quickly.
And so here we are... there's no going back this time. We are full steam ahead on the potty training train. While I know we are no where from fully potty trained, I can hardly believe how far we've come in just over 24 hours. There's a whole lot of celebrating going on here and if you stop by our place, expect to shout from the rooftops our current favorite family phrase... "Yay, you went potty on the big girl potty!" I assure you, you won't feel alone... even the boys are chiming in with big congrats to their little sister!
Until next time,
Angie
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