It's Finally Done

~

My daughter is potty trained.

Finally.

Thank God.

After 3 months of tears (mine), stubbornness (hers), bribes (mine), negotiations (hers), and a lot of accidents (hers), it's done.

She got up on Monday and told me, "I'm going to put my peepee in the potty now because I'm a big girl and I'm going to school tomorrow."

I enthusiastically told her that was great, but I didn't believe her. She had been getting better lately about the whole potty training situation and her fear of the potty had dissolved. However, I was still bribing her; I had bought all of the Disney Princess dolls (2 for $20! And we have TEN of them... you do the math) since that was the only bribe that worked, but she still had a few accidents a week.

She has not had an accident in over a week. She tells me or her teachers or another adult when she has to go use the bathroom. She cleans up after herself. I'm still in a state of shock.

My sister asked me what I did to get her potty trained. I considered making myself out like SuperMom. I considered bragging about how all you have to do is listen to your child and find the right button to push. Basically, I considered lying.

Instead, I told the truth. "I don't have a clue," I replied. "She just did it."

My sister thought that over and then nodded. "You know your daughter is smarter than you right?" she asked.

"I know," I sighed.

"Her teenage years are going to suck," she told me.

"I know," I sighed.

At least she'll be potty trained for them. I was beginning to doubt that she would be.