One Out of Two Ain't Bad

Well, today marks the one week anniversary of us beginning and halfway ending potty training.
Here is a top ten re-cap of our week:

1. Girls are off to an optimistic start, having few accidents and going in the potty a lot.
2. Girls have an accident-free day at school Tuesday.
3. Kyle and I clean up poop out of underwear/carpet/our clothes/shoes, etc. approximately 6 times.
4. Girls realize that pooping in underwear is most traumatizing event in their 26 month span of life.
5. Sophie turns this trauma into an general fear and loathing of being within 5 feet of potty.
6. After 2 full days of watching Sophie deliberately pee on carpet/in underwear, potty training ends for her.
7. Campbell continues to do excellent and is in underwear during the day with hardly any accidents.
8. Ongoing battle in regards to the girls' now insane fear of going number two.
9. Kyle questioning my emotional stability as a mom. Burke being somewhat neglected due to re-cap #3.
10. Mom fearing both girls being in intensive therapy someday when they have flashbacks 20 years from now regarding those early days of potty training and mommy going crazy.

I'll end this re-cap by saying this has by far been my most challenging week as a mom. I have literally waded through poop, sweat, and lots of tears (shed by me, not the girls). I've decided that God must have intentionally designed humans to endure the process of potty training in order to teach parents early on that ultimately, we cannot control everything our child does. I feel this will be a valuable lesson in approximately ten years when the girls are on the brink of teenage-dom and screaming how much they hate me and how I've ruined their lives. And I'll be ready for this, because I'll remember a time when they were two and I had to learn, for the first time, to just let it go.

I've learned this week that even if Sophie isn't potty trained until first grade, I love that little girl with my entire heart. Even if she looks at me in the eye, pees on our pretty white rug, and then cackles with laughter. She is mine, and I am hers. And I'll just keep telling myself that her insanely hard head and orneriness will serve her well someday. It sure as hell better.

In the meantime, here are a few pics of our week...

Our Minnie Mouse potties. We had several potties that friends loaned us so we wouldn't have to shell out $50 for two potties, but then Nana bought them these for Christmas and they HAD to have them in the bathroom. 

Bribery

Campbell taking a little potty break at Charlotte's the other day. 

As you can tell, Charlotte was mesmerized, maybe even a little terrified. As you should be, dear child.

So there you have it. One out of two ain't bad. 

xoxo