The past two days were better...not the greatest, but better. I've tried some new stuff to deal with the tantrums. It all started when I found out that our daycare started putting on little guy on the potty! GASP!! I couldn't believe it. I wasn't expecting it at all. It isn't a set schedule or a big deal, but they try to get the older kids in the class used to the potty before they move to the two-year-old class.

This was an eye-opener for me because I realized my dear sweet baby boy will be a two-year-old in a mere four months!! Where did the time go? Better yet, WHERE DID MY BABY GO??!! Then, it hit me that our one year famiversary will be in three months!! (Two if you count it as the day we became parents legally.) I cannot believe it. They were just little itty bitty babies and now they are toddlers...practically big kids!!! 

For the record, the idea of potty training children has been an irrational fear of mine for a while. Everything I read sounded confusing. And all these people that are selling programs on how to potty train. Which just made me anxious. I mean, am I going to have to hire a professional for this? For something me, my spouse, and all our friends (as far as I know) do everyday? And what about the inevitable...um...accidents? Are we going to need to start carrying heavy duty cleaners everywhere to take care of piles of waste? My husband has difficulty with that level of mess. I had a tough enough time housebreaking our dogs let alone trying to figure out the mysteries of the human gastrointestinal system. Of small humans that do not speak but like to scream.

However, I went to the store clutching my purse and hyperventilating as I ventured to the potty aisle. It was the same level of fear and anxiety I had when I first entered the new terrain of the the baby aisle over a year ago. I was really traumatized by the whole thing. Five different types of potty chairs?! Special wipes? Was toilet paper not ok? Then there were the potty seats that you add to the regular toilet. Why weren't there any plain ones? Did I really need one covered in animated movie princesses?

To add insult to injury, I tried to buy some big kid underpants as well. The smallest size available was 2T...which is still too big for Peanut at this point. That is part of my denial. He just looks too small to be almost two!

Bottom line is that I need to get over myself and start going with the flow. This is part of the package I signed up for as a parent. Your kids don't stay babies forever. Today potties, tomorrow driving, two weeks from now marriage. Peanut is throwing tantrums because, well, that's what toddlers do. He wants to start being a big kid and doing more stuff on his own. And I was still treating him, in some ways, like he was still a baby. He is still MY baby, but he is growing up.

I referred to one of my favorite parenting books by Tracy Hogg. (I really like most of the Baby Whisperer techniques) I read her book on toddlers a while ago, but, once again, I needed a reminder. We changed some of our routines to help Peanut be able to do more on his own. We spend more time making transitions. Like in the morning, I pulled out two shirts and let him pick the one he wanted to wear (notice he doesn't get to choose whether or not he will wear a shirt, just which one). I asked him which he wanted to put on first, his shirt or his shorts. Then we moved to a new diaper. Of course, it was easier since I let him sit on his new potty first so he was most of the way there with getting the diaper on. At dinner, he threw and tantrum and he was removed from the table until he calmed down. And he did not throw one during the meal that followed. This evening at dinner, he maneuvred his spoon to scoop food into his mouth all by himself. And he actually got most of it in there, too. Before bed, I give him things to put away to help clean up. All in all, there were way more smiles and far fewer tears. Except from me, maybe. *sigh*

Oh, and you will be proud to know (or maybe you won't, but whatever) there were two...count em, folks! TWO...successful potty moments.

I pray we remember all of this in a few months when we get to do it all over again for Pumpkin.