Potty Draining

Last night Rain had a nightmare. She tossed and turned, but because she's only seen G-rated movies in her life, her brain didn't have much frightening material to work with, apparently. So, she shouted words like "shoes" (she hates when she can't go with us everywhere, and often demands her shoes so she can follow), "papas"(the Spanish word for potatoes, her code word for food in general, meaning she's hungry), and finally "pee-pee."

Pee-pee. Yes, mommy would categorize "pee-pee" as a nightmare, too.

Potty training is the last major test of wills between a parent and a toddler. After, of course, begins the test of wills between a parent and a full-grown kid then a parent and a teen, but still, let's not lose focus.


At first, Rain's potty training seemed to be going smoothly. We bought her a little potty, and she showed no signs of resistance. She wasn't afraid to sit on it like some kids are. In fact, she would sit a long time on the potty and do nothing. No pee, no poo--nothing. Fine, I thought, we'll just get her used to sitting on it, and that little accomplishment will be all that's needed for the week.

We bought her a second potty (you know, to cover our bases), and put her in Pull-Ups. She peed in the potty several times, and we cheered like madmen. Quickly, she was in regular panties, and I truly believed she was on her way to toilet independence.

At some point, Rain realized how dear potty training had become for me. I pine for the day we won't have to buy packages of over-price Pull-Ups and wipes. When I would try to coax Rain to use the potty, she began to tell me things like, "No, thanks!" Her rebuffs were cheerful at first. Then she would say angrily, "No pee-pee!" and run away. I would put her on the potty, she would sit there for five minutes, walk away, and then pee in her pants.

This was maddening. After two weeks, she got a tummy ache one day, and that brought us back to step 1 all over again.

Last week we had our carpets professionally cleaned, because though I thoroughly cleaned each of Rain's disaster, I wanted a fresh start, if you will.

Rain's gotten a bit fed up, too. Not only did her cousin (1 month older than her) get the process down in less than a month (no accidents in a month, too), Rain has gotten embarrassed about the whole potty thing. She tries hiding her wet Pull-Ups (won't let me change them), and will NOT poop until she's entirely alone. I know where this comes from, and it's partly my fault. Though I've never razzed her for "accidents" I do sigh deeply when I have to clean poo from her pants (c'mon, wouldn't you?). I give a feeble, "C'mon, Rain, please put poop in the potty. It's right here, see? Just let Mommy know if you need help ..."

I shouldn't have commented at all. Now she thinks the actual act of pooping is what's disgusting, not getting it all over the carpet. So, she tries to hold it or hide when she needs to go. Now we're going to have to start all over again.

I comfort myself with the fact that there aren't too many five-year-olds running around with diapers, so just statistically, Rain should get this thing down eventually. But the thought of this going on for even another month, let alone years, is ... Well, I'll just have to keep the carpet cleaner number handy (*sigh*).