What It’s Really Like to Tackle Potty Training

About 4 weeks ago, we took advantage of a week of no activities to tackle one of the most dreaded parent tasks known to man – POTTY TRAINING! If you’ve been reading the blog, then you know we’ve had some ups and downs with our 2.5 year old, but ultimately we’ve survived the whole training and are on the other side. Finally it’s time to see a behind-the-scenes look at what it was really like.

I debated even filming this because I had zero potty training plans going into this, and, quite frankly, I was worried it would all fail. And what kind of a blogger does that make me?

It makes me human, though.

Confession – this was one of the HARDEST things I’ve done in my adult life. And you’ll see my frustration and struggles in this. I am not a patient person, and while I wasn’t expecting potty training miracles overnight and to be completely done and accident free by the end of day 1, I was expecting some improvement each day. And when it wasn’t happening, it was hard to hide my disappointment and frustration.

Positivity and encouragement are so key with potty training (and most of parenting!) that I felt like the Horrible Mom that was loosing it each time there was an accident.

But you know what? We pulled through.

We’re almost a month out from the beginning of this vlog, and most days we’re accident free. Most days Elizabeth is GREAT telling us when she needs to go to the bathroom. And then some days we backslide…. and that’s ok. She’s 2!

The point of me vlogging was to first just document it all. It needs to be documented. But second, it was to encourage any of you that are in the middle of potty training, or are planning to start. You may be reading tons of “How to Potty Train Your Toddler” posts… watching your 50th video, searching for tips.

My biggest tip? Throw out everything you’ve read and just go with the flow (pun totally intended). Your child is different from my child. Your child is different than your friend’s child. You are a different parent than I am. Which means that the way things worked for us may or may not work for you. And that’s ok!

The good news is that YOU are potty trained…. so it’s possible.

If you do have any questions around potty training or you just want to share how wonderful (or miserable) your experience was training your child, leave a comment below!  

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6 comments

  1. Michelle says:

    Everytime I see your photo I have to smile. You know I have to share this on Instagram for my Tuesday Talk pick today!! Hang in there. They don’t go to school without being potty trained or we wouldn’t let them in! 🙂

    • Katie @ Cup of Tea says:

      I’m potty trained, my husband is potty trained… I figure all kids eventually will get there 🙂 But seriously, it’s going SO much better than that first week. I’m glad we stuck with it. Thank you for sharing!!!

  2. Ruthie Gray says:

    You are totally right, Katie. Each child is different and having trained 4 (and totally lost it several times mid-flow), I know this to be a truth.

    Your face on the video pic…priceless!!! LOL!!! Totes relates how a mom feels at this stage of the game!

    Good luck – glad to hear you’re nearing the end!

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