Proverbs 22: 6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”
“Ok, train up a child in the way he should go… well I want to train him to “go” on the potty.” I thought to myself totally taking this verse out of context. “I’m tired of changing diapers and I think he’s ready!” I told Bryce. “Do it then…” He said having full confidence in me. I wasn’t so sure myself but man I wanted to gloat a bit… I went online and bought training underwear and a potty seat. I watched many videos on “how to potty train in 3 days” wanting this to be as quick and easy as possible.
Backing the story up a bit here to explain what made me want to potty train Jeremiah so young and why I wanted it to be so fast. One Tuesday morning, I walked into my parent’s house with Jeremiah to find my Mom and sisters sitting on the couch talking about the struggles of potty training. (A usual gathering on Tuesdays) After taking Jer’s boots off and setting him down to play, I sat down on the other end of the couch and listened to their conversation. They were discussing their difficulties of this task and said the kids wouldn’t just go on the potty. As I was quietly sitting there, I started scheming. “I’m going to try to potty train Jer before they get their kids trained!” I thought to myself. “Since they are having such difficulties doing so, I should be able to get Jer trained before the next Tuesday and be able to gloat a little”… (All in fun of course!) why I thought I’d have an easier time, (especially since Jer was only 17ish months) I have no idea… Maybe just a little sister thing. Always trying to keep up, lol!
By the time the supplies got shipped to our house I had full confidence that I would have him fully potty trained in 3 days AND before his older cousins were trained. (Yes, I got a little competitive and maybe a bit cocky… ) I was so pumped to get my son on that potty, but BOY did that last long! I think I had him in underwear for half the day and I gave up. I was tired of getting down on my hands and knees to clean messes. (I was 8 months pregnant at the time.) He maybe peed in the toilet one time and the rest was on the floor. He started to hate the bathroom, and I didn’t want to have the hassle of washing underwear 10 times a day either. I had epically failed. I thought potty training would be so simple and go so smoothly. Smooth it was not. I’d say bumpy, and a whole lot of messy… But my sisters didn’t have their kids trained yet either, so I didn’t feel so bad, and I still thought I had a chance to out potty train them, until a little while later Grace (My eldest sister) told me that her daughter is fully potty trained, and Kaity (My second eldest) said that she has her son in underwear. I was pretty bummed I didn’t succeed but also glad they got it figured out! Sadly, I didn’t get to do any gloating, but the Bible says something about that… “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” Proverbs 16:18 …And I sure got knocked down a few pegs! But sometimes that’s how God teaches us. Lesson learned, Lord!
Quick look up in the dictionary. haughty: Adjective- arrogantly, superior and disdainful. disdainful: Adjective- showing contempt or lack of respect. And the list goes on but that pretty much sums up my competitive/prideful attitude. Nowww let’s move on 😉
I didn’t try potty training again until recently and on day 2 Jer got sick and was down for about a week. So, he went back into a diaper while he wasn’t feeling up for it. We had to start completely over, but today we are on day 3 of potty training! I am determined not to put him in diapers and just to deal with the messes. I have a better attitude this time too, haha! I ain’t competing with anyone but myself. I’ve learned my lesson!
Funny Potty-training stories!
“I took my daughter to the bathroom and after she went, I had to go. As soon as she heard me pee, she was clapping and cheering, “mommy you peed!! You peed!! Yay!!!” We were in a public bathroom…” – Grace Johnson
“I told Jeremiah it was time to go on the potty when I realized I really had to go myself. I grabbed Jer and brought him to the bathroom, and I set him on the floor. “You wait there; I have to go first but I’ll be quick.” But I wasn’t fast enough; he started to pee on the floor, so I stopped what I was doing and set him on the toilet. He finished doing his biz on the potty, but I have NEVER been so close to going in my own pants…” – Becca Zesiger
“Getting Jr. to poop on the potty was our greatest challenge (and still can be a struggle) but I remember one day when Bjorn was home with me and Jr. was running around in his underwear, he said something about pooping and you’d think I would jump into action and rush him to the potty but I was wrapped up in a conversation with my husband and just chalked it up to Jr. being a two-year-old boy talking about poop. Well just a few minutes later he comes running down the hallway yelling “Mom, Dad, I did it!!!!!” Bjorn and I look at each other knowing what had just happened. Thankfully, without a second thought Bjorn grabbed Jr. and got him in the bathtub to clean up. Moral of my story is, if your two-year-old mentions poop while potty training, don’t dismiss him! lol” – Kaity Smith
“I was babysitting Grace’s two oldest kids and I gave them a plate of raisins and craisins. My niece started shoveling them into her mouth afraid her brother would eat them all before her. I told her to slow down, or she was going to choke. Her mouth was so full, but she just kept shoveling them in when she suddenly stopped. A concerned look spread across her face. She started yelling something but had so many raisins in her mouth that she wasn’t willing to give up, I couldn’t understand her. She started running to the bathroom, raisins falling out of her mouth, yelling whatever she was yelling. She got to the bathroom before I realized what she was trying to say! “I have to peeee!! I have to pee!” I grabbed her and set her on the potty but sadly it was too late. I did get her to spit some of the raisins onto a plate so she could talk, though. Haha!.” -Ali Johnston
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