Just a week or 2 after Rosie was born, we got a note from Mimi's day care letting us know they were creating a new classroom for rising 3 year olds. Mimi's beloved teacher (Ms. L) was slated to lead the class, and her best friend was on the list of kids that would be moving. Mimi, unfortunately, was not on that list.
When I approached Ms. L, on the verge of tears (damn postpartum hormones), she told me that the kids identified for the move were all potty trained, which is why Mimi was excluded. We'd been working with Mimi for a few months prior to Rosie's birth, but backed off because we knew a new sibling in the household could wreak havoc with potty training and the like. I expressed my concerns to Ms. L, and she reassured me that she thought Mimi was ready for the final push. "Bring in panties next week and we'll give it a go."
That Ms. L, she was (and still is) a miracle worker. Within 2 weeks Mimi was completely potty trained at school AND at home. I think she had one or two accidents before she moved to the new class, but that was it. So J and I were spared the really tough parts of potty training Mimi.
Rosie has been a different matter. She's been using the potty at day care since she was 2, but the routine has just started to click this summer. (J and I spent a weekend at home with her doing potty training boot camp.)
These days Rosie's mostly trained, but still has her moments. This week alone she had two incidents at day care: on Tuesday she aimed badly and proceeded to throw her soaked shorts and panties in the trash. Unfortunately, the cleaning crew emptied the day care trash before Rosie's teacher figured out what had happened. Yesterday, she had an accident at naptime (trashing outfit #1) and later fell in the potty (obliterating the second spare outfit).
I'm certainly not alone in my trials and tribulations. This summer I've vented a little bit with fellow DC area mom Jodi about the fun that is potty training -- so when she sent out a call for guest posts, I knew I had some experiences to share. Check it out if you're so inclined.
Sigh...this reminds me that we need to get on with little sis's potty training, too. Glad to know it's one of those semi-universal things (because of course someone has a story of how their kid was trained in two days at the age of 14 months, same kid who slept through the night at 3 weeks old...gah!!).
Posted by: mamasutra | August 21, 2008 at 05:50 PM
Daycare trained my kid too. She moved up a class, and peer pressure and a new teacher just got the job done.
Posted by: magpie | August 21, 2008 at 11:02 PM
Thank goodness for daycare training. We're still not quite there with the 3.5-year-old son, and had the same experience with his two older brothers. I am counting the minutes till we are done with cleaning poo out of the kiddo's pants!!
Posted by: Meg | August 22, 2008 at 07:27 PM
Oliver still has accidents, and he's been trained for several months now. I'm getting really tired of wiping pee off the floor....
Posted by: mamatulip | August 25, 2008 at 01:01 PM
Oh, lordy! So glad those days are behind us.
Posted by: apathy lounge | August 26, 2008 at 08:57 PM
I'm always so sad when I go to pick up my daughter and see a bag o' nast in her cubby. Not a good day when we're tapping into the extras.
(so nice to meet you too!)
Posted by: KC | August 28, 2008 at 11:06 PM