It is hard. Simply put: it is a difficult psychological warfare that you MUST win. It doesn't matter what the child wants, but what he/she needs - to be out of diapers.
We started potty training Elisa on Monday of this week and it did not start off on the right foot. Jennifer had read a book that was passed down from her mom to give some pointers and techniques. I am grateful that Jennifer read it because it gave us a lot of good practices to implement. However, I will say that in my opinion we almost gave up after just one day because the book is so stinking misleading. In the book, the example child is completely potty trained in approximately 4 hours. That can get a reader's expectations up. When Elisa was having accidents Monday afternoon the white flag was about to start waving.
Fortunately, we had a couple of "people who care" that gave us great encouragement. Tuesday continued and ended up being about the same as Monday. The only difference was that I was the trainer instead of Jennifer. Wednesday improved with more successes than accidents. Today has been awesome! Elisa has had 6 successful deposits (if you will) with only one accident that happened in her bed during nap time. She is getting better as we continue to stick to the training process.
It has taken quite a bit of endurance and a lot more time than we anticipated. I realize that all children are different, some may take longer than Elisa while others may take only a few hours like the cheater example kid in the book (punk!). I seriously don't know how most parents pull this off. I don't know how we would have pulled this week off if we weren't already not doing full-time work here. We went on a walk a little while ago for 30 minutes and it was the first time that I had left the house since Monday! How do 2 full-time working parents do this? Do they take time off work or just wait until the kid says, "I'm sick of diapers! Can I have the keys to the car so I can pick some underwear at Target?" Seriously!
Anyway, as the successes come we all get encouraged. Elisa just needs to stop holding her pee as long as possible. "Just relax and let it go" is what we tell her. Hopefully, we will be completely in the clear by the weekend.
Last thought: I am so pumped about not purchasing or changing diapers that I can't even explain it!
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2 comments:
Well I suppose you've paid your diaper dues so I won't be more than a wee bit jealous. I've got years still ahead of me. Crossing my fingers for you guys! Way to go Elisa!
Sascha - I stumbled upon Stacia's blog/website and found you as well. It is so wonderful to see that the two of you have such precious families and are doing such amazing things with your lives and your talents. The two of you were always my favorites of the Windsor Park youth and you know that Kasey adored you both. Had to believe that he is 15 now. E-mail me sometime and I will fill you in on our life. Take Care and God's blessings to you and your family and your mission.
Karise(Maxwell) Moyes
moyes5@comcast.net
Karise Moyes
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