I Think We Are Almost There!!

Having Benjamin potty-trained, that is!! I am so proud of him, and I am SO bolstered in my belief in letting your child determine when they will potty-train!

I will preface this entry by saying I really didn't potty-train Thomas. He was in daycare all day at 18 months and they did an amazing job of taking them every hour or so, and between that and M&M incentives and consistency at Grandma and Grandpa's, he really was so quick to be trained it wasn't a big deal.

Benjamin has been sitting on the pot and able to go on command since he was like 20 months old. I , however, after much research and chats online with board buddies, decided that me running him to the bathroom every hour or half hour or whatever, at 2 years old, was NOT him potty-training, that was ME being potty-trained. I have told whoever has cared to listen that he would train when he was ready, that I refuse to get in to a big tadoo about it, and that is that.

When he turned 3, I had a number of friends wondering when he would be trained. I actually have had a couple of heated debates with a board friend who was really pushing her daughter to train, was meeting a lot of resistance, was not really willing to step back and say that it really is NOT a big deal to be trained by X time, and that she will do what she needs to do when she is good and ready. Benjamin also really did go through a time when he did not want to try underwear or Pull-Ups and did not want to go on the potty. Fine, no problem. I quit asking.

Well, the last couple of weeks, he has woken up dry in the morning, so I would take him in and let him go (the child has an LARGE bladder, apparently!!) and then put Pull-Ups on, without really even discussing it. Last Sunday, he pooped in his diaper, took it off himself, and carried it very carefully without making a mess, into the bathroom to flush it! I took this as a not so subtle sign he was really fully ready! Since it has been so MISERABLY hot the last week, we have mostly just hung out here at the house, which has made it very easy to just let Benjamin (and Max, as he has to do whatever Benjamin does!) run around in Pull-Ups or underwear and by yesterday, he was staying dry ALL day, going in to the bathroom by himself, and wanting no help wiping ( we had to renegotiate THAT!). That easily! Boom!

I am SO proud of him, and of me, for trusting my instincts, for NOT buying a bunch of unrealistic and artificially imposed guidelines and ideas, and knowing that we SO underestimate our children, and SO try to force them into unnatural and premature ideals that WE construct for them, when we really need to listen, and watch, and trust that they know what they need in so many ways. OK, I'm done with my lecture of the day!

Today and tomorrow will be another couple of busy days here at our house. I did papers this morning then headed to Wal-Mart ALONE for my 2 week grocery trip. It was SO nice - not too many people there at 7:30am, no little people grabbing for things I won't buy, and I got EVERYTHING on my list, plus a few extras, for $45 less than I had budgeted!! Happy day! Thomas has a basketball game at 12:45 th9is afternoon, then he and I are going to work on cleaning and organizing upstairs! Tomorrow's papers should not be bad, given the HUGE monster we delivered last weekend, and I don't work Applebee's tonight, so I will get a decent night's sleep - probably at LEAST 5 hours! True luxury!! WooHoo!!