Oh Crap! Potty Training

make it a four-day weekend. The more time your child has to learn
this with you, in the familiar setting of home, the better it sticks.
An interesting side note to clearing your calendar: just one
generation ago, kids were potty trained at seventeen to twenty-two
months. I truly believe it’s because our moms, for the most part, were
stay-at-home moms. I mean stay at home. They didn’t work at home,
they had no computer for email and Facebook, no cell phones, no
identities to preserve, no mommy groups, no playdates, no baby
gymnastics, no music classes, and no swimming lessons. Now, I’m
forty-three, so maybe I’m talking to a younger audience here, and I’m
certainly not saying our moms exhibited the best parenting. But I do
believe it was that stay-at-home factor that made potty training so
easy. Between my mom and her three best friends, they literally had
twenty kids in a ten-year span. All four moms used cloth diapers, and
none had a dryer. And each of those kids was fully potty trained by
twenty-two months.
If there’s any pressure for your child to perform, it’ll backfire and
have you unnecessarily pulling your hair out. Do yourself a favor and
listen to me. Clear your calendar. Please don’t make the mistake of
assuming your child is going to be the potty training all-star. They
exist, but usually where we don’t expect them. Do not think I’m
making this up. Many parents have fallen prey to the fantasy “My kid
is smart, he’ll pick this up. I’m clearing my calendar for three days
and then that’s it! Back to business as usual. I don’t have time for this
to take longer than that.”
Again, trust me. That very thinking will lead to tears—yours.