FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am little superstitious and afraid I will jinx myself by even mentioning it, but I want so badly to shout from the rooftops, that my very strong-willed, will-do-it-when-she-is-good-and-ready, marches-to-the-beat-of-her-own-drum daughter is potty trained once and for all! 

As we all know, this has been a very long and  painful ordeal.  I don't think potty training is for the faint of heart.  There are few myths I'd like to debunk:

1. Potty training girls is easier.  FALSE!  As I can testify, this is not always the case.  Ian got it in 6 days flat.  I am not sure I even know how to count that high with how long it took Sam.

2. Girls can be potty trained at an earlier age; mostly likely they have the ability to get it at 2.5 years old.  FALSE!  We tried to potty train Sam at 2.5 years old.  It was a disaster.  We tried again at 3 years old.  Again, a disaster.  It took until Sam was over 3 years, 3 months old before it finally stuck.

3. No matter how bad it gets, if you stick with it, the child will eventually get it.  FALSE!  I stuck with it for over 27 days straight when I tried to potty train Sam right after turning 3 years old.  27 days of pure craziness and insanity showing me again and again she wasn't able to successfully do it.

4. Just use a great reward system (stickers, m&ms, treasure chest, etc) and you will have no problems creating a reason for the child to want to use the potty.  FALSE!  This is a complete joke.  And you know who ate more m&ms than Sam?  Yes, me!  Not to mention, I have about a thousand stickers ready to be stuck on something.  Each reward we tried to implement lost its appeal within the 1st day. 

Here's the thing....at the end of the day, the child has to want to use the potty.  The child has to want to keep her underwear dry.  The child has to want to hold it until she can successfully make it to the bathroom.  There is no amount of pleading, begging, or anticipating if they need to go or not that will make potty training easier.  I've learned the hard way, you can't force a child to be potty trained.

And so, now we can close the chapter on this milestone.  Please stick a fork in me.  I am done.  This is the LAST CHILD I AM EVER POTTY TRAINING!!!   So far, in all my mommyhood experiences, potty training ranks up there as the thing I've liked the least.  I look at women who have lots of kids or are currently pregnant and all I can think of is, one day soon, you will have to go through this and I feel for you.  I don't see the joy in having a newborn or a toddler running around being all cute.  I just see the future struggle and pain in going diaper free. 

We just completed one whole week (at preschool, no less) with no accidents!  OH. MY. GAWD. !!  I didn't think I'd ever see the day.  Wait, there goes a pig flying by.  It just got cold in hell.  Ha!  I still have my sarcastic sense of humor...this excruciating ordeal has not broken me.  Crippled, yes, but not completely broken.

I'd like to take a moment and thank Samantha.  Thank her for finally getting on board the potty train and figuring this was a pretty good idea to do....finally!!!