worst part about parenting

The worst part {according to me} so far is POTTY TRAINING!!! I don't know why, but I absolutely hate potty training! I think the main reason I dislike it so much is because I lack the patience. I am not a patient person whatsoever, and to stay calm for days on end while you clean up pee and poop is not my ideal parenting job. But...it has to be done!

Potty training Wesley was so hard {or so I thought}! We started when he was 3 months shy of turning 3. We did the whole method where we put him in underwear and spent the next 3-4 days teaching him to go in the potty. Did he wet himself? Yep! Did he poop in his underwear? Yep! I hated every second of it. We didn't do anything to prepare Wesley, and I was surprised that by day 3 or 4 he was telling me he had to go potty. It was like a light bulb went on in his head. I thought we were free and clear after that. Boy, was I wrong! It took probably another month and a half to get him trained all the way. I swear most of his accidents were just to spite me. He even peed on my bed while staring me straight in the face! By his 3rd birthday, he was pretty much trained. He still had a few accidents here and there but he was doing great!

Onto Beckett...I've been dreading the day we started training since the day he was born! When Rob got laid off this past fall, I thought it might be good to get started since I'd have his help. We talked to Beckett a little bit about it and he really showed no interest. So we put it off. Then a couple of weeks ago Rob came to me and told me he wanted to start potty training Beckett over Martin Luther King weekend since he would be home for 3 days. I was hesitant, but gave in. We stocked up on underwear and little prizes. We prepared him the best we could and dove in head first.

The first day {saturday} was rough, but by the late afternoon we got him to go #1 and #2 in the potty. We were ecstatic...he was ecstatic! He had a couple of accidents but went two more times through out the day. The next day didn't go so well. We couldn't get him to sit on the toilet and he was saying he was scared. We went to church and put a pull up on him. When we got home, I spent quite a bit of time with him in the bathroom and got him to go in the potty again. Again...ecstatic! Onto day 3...he started resisting a little more. He would sit on the potty but wouldn't go. I can't remember exactly, but I don't think he went a single time in the potty that day. I was beyond frustrated and even scared, because I knew Rob would be returning to work the next day and I would be all by myself. I prayed A LOT and went into day 4 {tuesday} feeling motivated to stay calm. It only lasted until about 10 am. The kid was completely resisting and cried every time I tried to stick him on the toilet. I called Rob for help. We decided to take a break. I was frustrated and we knew that he was probably frustrated so we stopped. I stuck him back in a diaper and didn't mention the p word to him for few days.

I felt like a total failure! I didn't want to give in, but I also didn't want to scar the poor kid and have him be completely scared of the toilet. I also didn't have a clue of when to reintroduce it. I wanted to get him trained before his birthday, because starting in March I will be watching my friend's adorable little girl. The thought of training him while watching a newborn completely overwhelmed me. Ugh...what was I supposed to do? My mom kept telling me that he would do it on his own time, and of course I didn't want to listen. I like things done when and how I want. I finally decided to leave it alone.

On Saturday, just four days after I put him back in diapers, Rob and I went out with some friends and left the boys with our fabulous friend Nicole, aka Nikki. We came home that night and Nikki had told us she got Beckett to sit on the potty and he went for her. I was excited but also thought it was just a fluke. Then on Sunday shortly after he got up, Beckett said he needed to go potty and to our surprise he went in the bathroom and went POTTY! We couldn't believe it! I was so happy, but also didn't want to get my hopes up, so we continued to keep a diaper on him. We went to church and Beckett told me twice that he needed to go potty so I took him but nothing. Then during Sunday school I was taking the roll to the nursery when his teacher walked out and told me Beckett was in the bathroom with his diaper off. I walked in and asked him if he went and he answered "yeah mom, I goed!" I completely believed him. He is quite honest when it comes to going to the bathroom. He either says, "yeah I goed", or "no, I just sat on it". After church I checked his diaper and it was completely dry! He continued going to the bathroom through out the rest of the day. Rob and I couldn't believe it! Was it really going to be this easy the second time around? I texted Nikki and thanked her! I don't know what she did to ignite a fire in him, but it worked!

We are on day 3 of no accidents...{so far}! GO BECKETT!

I couldn't be more proud!