Potty Training is Not for Me

I really don't know how you ladies do it.

Potty training is nothing short of a miracle.

I really don't know what possesses me to try again -- peer pressure, a particularly stinky diaper change, cost effectiveness. But today I bit the bullet and asked Peter if he would like to wear "big boy underwear". Umm...yep, it's a go.

For the first hour or two, things went well. He was excited to sit on his little potty every 15 minutes, when he heard the oven timer beep. Sit there...try to pee...not this time, OK we'll try again later...back to the legos.

I've forgotten the exact sequence of events, but somehow Ezra was awakened early from his nap by a loud Peter noise, somehow flour found itself all over the counters and floor, and somehow pee escaped from Peter before he or I realized it, making a LAKE all over the kitchen floor.

Thankful it was the kitchen. Easier to clean up.

But have you ever read those sugar-coated "potty books"? The kind that show a little teensy puddle on the floor? Ya, not my son. He peed ONCE between 8-2 o'clock. Definitely not a puddle.

Quite possibly because he was afraid of having another accident.

So I won't bore you with the tale of crying baby, sticky floor, hungry/tired mama, disaster baking project....let's just say it was a bad combination of events.

We attempted to remedy the situation by going out for burritos -- Peter (who now doesn't want to pee in a diaper) sitting on a couple towels in his car seat, with strict instructions to yell "I HAVE TO PEE" so I can pull over and whip him out to pee on the side of the road. "Where is the side of the road, mommy?" :)

Finally, after much pestering from me "Peter, do you have to pee?" and refusals from Peter "I don't want any milk!" "I don't want any water!" "I don't want to pee!", we abandoned the idea, cajoled that diaper back on his buns, and put the little creature to bed.

I don't like potty training. It makes me feel like a failure.

I am pretty sure it makes my child feel that way too.

Maybe he's not ready. I know I'M not ready.