Potty Training (aka Big Girls Part 3)

To say that I prepared for this transition would be an understatement. Yes, I get it, no baby goes off to university wearing diapers. HOWEVER, this transition was going to be a big one and since I had already maximized my stress levels on the career front, I figured the entire family would benefit from as smooth of a transition as possible for this one! 

After much research and mommy chats with trusted friends we decided on a "plan of attack" that went something like this. Put your family on lock down for at least four days in a row, kids are naked from the waist down, potties were in the living room and we watched a lot of Disney flicks. All joking aside, our March Break did end up a lot like this, let me fill you in on how it happened!

The Warm Up
First the girls received their very own potty from Auntie Monique! Complete with their own roll of toilet paper, this birthday present was just what the girls need to get the conversation going! Lots of potty books (Thanks Elmo!) and some great videos (thanks to one of my students, Eoghan!) Check out Listen to Your Body (Go in the Potty). The girls and I would sing and dance this song on many occasions. I must have watched this video at least 100 times.

The Countdown
This is where it got serious. No more fun and games, we were counting it down! With March Break fast approaching, it was time to start making the girls aware of just how quickly their world was about to get rocked! LOL 

 

We started a countdown right on their bedroom door! 17 days until the fun would begin. Each night the girls and I would take a heart off the door and count to see how many hearts/days were left until all the diapers were gone! For our own amusement and also because this was when we could commit to at least four days in a row at home with no interruptions, we scheduled to start potty training on St. Patrick's Day!

The Party
Nothing raises the stakes about a situation like a party! Celebrating the beginning of potty training with an underwear party was an idea I heard from another friend Mom! So party we did! Grandma, Nana, and Papa were all invited over for dinner and a big celebration complete with presents! The girls opened gift after gift all of underwear!! Frozen, Strawberry Shortcake, fun designs, how could you not be motivated to try to potty?

 

 The girls were excited to open their underwear, even if they didn't want to wear it! Hahaha!

Mommy and Daddy brought back an appropriate gift from Vegas!

 

Here Molly shows off her new Potty Training shirt!

Game On!
Tuesday, March 17th, 2015...Potty Training Day 1. I almost felt like this was a Parenting Boot Camp. Survive the next few days potty training twins and you can survive anything!! The girls were great, we cheered in the morning, took the sign completely down, turned up the heat in our house and removed the girls' clothing from the waste down! The potties were in the living room so the girls could easily use them and then the real fun began. Nothing could have prepared me for the "hyper-awareness" I was about to experience. Every toe curl, facial strain or shaking knees I was instantly questioning "Do you need to go pee-pee?"By 11am I was certain is was nearing supper time, LOL.  We spent time time sitting on the potty, playing near the potty and having lots and lots of accidents. The first successful potty attempt brought on many cheers and much relief as well as a well earned Frozen jelly bean for Molly. Well that certainly got their attention. Frozen jelly beans exist? They most certainly do and I'm not sure if it was their great taste or the dislike of warm urine running down their leg but wouldn't you know it, the girls started getting the hang of it. 

Day 1 Hanging on the Potty while watching Disney Movies (Snow White, Tangled, Frozen)

In fact, most of Day 1 was spent hanging out ON or NEAR the potty, to get the "feel" for it!

BUT, it was St. Patrick's Day, so a visit from Auntie Moe resulted in come awesome stickers, flashing mugs, hair clips and a few Irish Car Bombs from Mommy and Daddy. Yes, it was a long day, but a fun one, and while we did spend a lot of time cleaning up accidents during the first portion of the day, we did have a lot of time to potty like a rock star!

Most of Day 1 was spent in some form of dress resembling this outfit! (Thank you Tiff!)

Sometimes a few party favours can make all the difference!

Day 2 Shenanigans!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Growing a bit tired of the whole potty training thing!

 While Day 2 was a bit easier on Mommy and Daddy, the girls were growing a bit tired of keeping their butts planted on their potties. The girls spent most of their time naked from waist down and we did A LOT of crafts and watched a lot of Disney: Tangled, Frozen, Cinderella, 101 Dalmatians, and Snow White to name a few! The girls were also a big fan of Cars!

Doing crafts to pass the time!

 Even though the girls were getting a bit of cabin fever, they really started to get the hang of the whole potty business! We had a few funny incidents that will forever be ingrained in my memory from over-the-top celebrations to what we found in the potty to one of the girls claiming "they were all done" as they ran around the kitchen with a poop hanging from their little butt. I wouldn't lie, by the end of Day 2 I was slightly wondering if perhaps we had made the right decision. I was tracking potty business using the pee/poop/accident ratio thanks to my friend Beth. This at least let us realize we were making progress over the first few days. By Friday the girls were accident free and had started wearing underwear during the day. On the weekend we started adding pants, which brought on a few occurrences of the girls sitting on the potty to use it (AWESOME) only to pee right through their underwear and pants (NOT AWESOME). Thankfully the girls REALLY didn't enjoy this sensation and the they quickly mastered either telling us they had to go potty and asking for help or pulling down their own pants and underwear. By the end of March Break the girls were celebrating the season opening of the Avondale Dairy Bar with a milkshake...and they were fully dressed!

Abigail

Molly

 

 

 When Monday morning came and March Break was over, it was the first time I've ever been happy to see a return to work, LOL. It was such a relief to be able to relax and not worry about my girls bodily functions!! (Thank you Grandma and Papa for taking over!!!) 

It has just been over two weeks since the girls have said goodbye to diapers. We still use a pull-up for naps and bedtime, but we just refer to it as "big girl underwear" or "sleeping underwear". The girls are virtually accident free and have really impressed us. We passed another big milestone yesterday when after SEVEN tries at the Kilt n' Clover the girls finally used the portable princess potty (it's a folding seat that covers a big toilet). This was a HUGE milestone because previously the girls would refuse to use anything but their own potty. To the point that Molly would only use the red potty and Abigail would only use the green potty! BUT, this little gem which repeated itself today at the Merritton Arena! 

While this milestone was definitely the hardest to achieve, thus far it has been the most rewarding. Bye-bye diaper genie and change tables!! Whoo hoo parenting win!