Potty Training

**WARNING** This note is about poop.

I've been trying to get my 2.5 year old daughter interested in potty training because I am over changing diapers. I know she can tell when she has to poop because she goes and hides where she can't see me before she handles her business. There are other "signs" of readiness, and since I'm so ready, it's something we're working on together.

I have heard from various sources and seen from my own experience that a good way to get the potty training started involves letting your kid run around naked. The idea is the lack of a convenient place to absorb/hold their potty business when they go makes them more aware of the urge to pee/poop and connects it to the actual pee/poop that exits their body. Plus, who wants pee/poop on their legs/feet?

Anyhow, I started letting Marissa run around naked in the mornings when we are home together without distractions. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to care at all when she pees/poops sans diaper. Most of the time, the only reason I even know she has "gone" is because I check on her so regularly. The worst part is she is really interested in poop, particularly in turning it into a crayon and using it to draw on whatever is around her. In true "MacGruber" fashion, we have dubbed her "Poopcasso".

Since we had a pretty low key morning planned and since Marissa expressed interest in using the potty this morning, I decided to have a diaper-free morning. We were doing okay... an hour and a half with no accidents. I probably should have gone and sat her on the potty, but I got a phone call from my sister and got distracted instead. I realized that Marissa had gone into the other room and gotten quiet. I ran in to discover her about to go all artsy with some fresh poop. I excused myself from the call and got everything/everyone cleaned up.

After everything was hygienic in my house again, Marissa and I sat down to talk about the right place to put our poop. I told her, "Rissa, poop is yucky, yucky! We don't touch our poop. We don't put it on the ground. We put our poop into the potty!" Then I ask her, "Rissa, where do we put our poop?"

She says, "ON THE GROUND!" I have to stifle my laughter, 'cause I'm mature like that.

Then I say, "No! We don't put poop on the ground. We put poop in the POTTY!" Again, I ask, "Where do we put our poop?"

Again, she enthusiastically declares, "ON THE GROUND!"

Unfortunately, I was unable to stifle the giggles that time. We have the exact same exchange two or three more times, so I decide I need to switch it up. So, I say, "Rissa, the potty is for poop," then ask, "What do we put in the potty?"

"We put yucky yucky stuff in the potty!" she replies.

I am encouraged by this response and add, "Yah! Yucky stuff like poop goes in the potty!" We have this exchange a couple of more times, then I decide to try the first question again.

I say, "Rissa, where do we put our poop?"

What does she say? That's right! "ON THE GROUND!"

I am so encouraged.

looking for it

It's been a rough few weeks. We had the car break down. Mason had strep. I had a stomach flu. Then I had a stomach flu again. Then Rissa got the stomach flu and puked all over herself and her crib. It's just been a rough time. During this rough time, there has been a spark of awesomeness: Marissa's recognition of her own fatigue and her desire to go to bed when she is tired.
Any mother who has ever had a toddler knows how rare and therefore how totally rad it is when your toddler not only makes it a breeze to put him/her down for a nap, but also actually requests naps as soon as s/he feels a little tired. I cannot tell you how many times that girl has come up to me and asked for a nap, much to my great relief. This week, probably because she was feeling craptacular, she was asking for and then taking two naps a day. And that alone has made a huge difference in how this rough spot has played out.
I'm so grateful that Marissa takes after her mama in the sleep department. I'm grateful for the excellent sleep training advice I found in Marc Weissbluth's Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, and for our fantastic pediatrician who recommended it to me way back when Mason was a baby. Finally, I'm especially grateful that Marissa came to live at my house. She's really great!