One small step for Toddlers, one giant leap (in the air) for Mommies!

Please welcome my first guest blogger to the site - my wife! While we're apart, I'm missing some of the big moments, so I asked her if she'd share her experiences here. Enjoy!


I was asked by The Huz to write a post because, well, it happened under my watch.

We purchased a child-sized potty for Grace months ago with intentions of potty training her, but the furthest we ever got was letting her sit on it with all her clothes on. This tactic was mainly used by me so I could keep my eye on her and not have to do the potty dance until The Huz got home from work.

She seemed to enjoy it, most of the time. She liked to read books while she sat down, and we did a lot of counting. We also had a mirror on the bathroom door, so she was able to have endless conversations with herself. All in all, it was a good start to the learning process.

And I really didn't want to do much more until we were settled at my parent's house. I can only imagine what would have happened if we were in the throws of potty training AND trying to move across the country to a new house, new room, and new people.

Now that we are here, and for the most part settled,  I upped the ante. Grace will now sit on her potty without her clothes on and count to ten or more, before she says she's all done. Then we will go through the motions of wiping, flushing, and washing our hands even though she has done nothing.

Until now that is.

This is how the whole thing went down:

Me: Grace, it's time to take a shower, let's try and go potty first.
Grace: All done (in a whiny voice).
Me: Come on, let's get your diaper off and just try to go potty.
Grace: Aaaaaaalll dooooone Mommy!
Me: (Sitting her on the potty) One, Two, Three...
Grace: Hokie Pokie, turn round Mommy?
Me: Nine, Ten. Okay let's get in the shower and clean up.
Grace: All done shower. ALL DONE SHOWER!!!
Me: (throwing her in the shower crying)


When we got out she was excited about being able to brush her teeth, comb her hair, and put lotion on. She was standing at the sink doing all this in only a towel until it started to fall off. At this point, I just gave up with the towel and let her finish naked - it's easier! But then we ended up having a little disagreement about how to brush our teeth and she started crying.

Then she got quiet, and we both watched as pee started trickling down her leg. I quickly sat her on the potty, and she didn't even mind the whiplash. What little pee was left landed in the little green potty! The bathroom quickly went from a crying room to a full on celebration!

Me: Grace, you went pee pee on the potty!!!
Grace: Pee pee on potty (very nonchalantly).
Me: I'm so proud of you! You did it! I love you so much (Lot's of kissing and hugging. Rinse and repeat about ten times).
Grace: Hokie Pokie, turn round Mommy?
Me: I can't wait to tell Daddy, he is going to be so proud of you!
Grace: (With increasing excitement) Talk Daddy, call DADDY, TALK DADDY!!!

We called Daddy right then and there. I let Grace tell him the good news, and the excitement he showed brought tears to my eyes. Once I got my composure and said good-bye, Grace was asking to call Grandpa and GG too. Why wouldn't everyone want to know about the good news? Grace was able to leave them both messages about going pee pee on the potty.

It was such an exciting accomplishment - mostly for Mommy - Grace could have cared less. She was more excited about being able to use the phone and picking out stickers.

We celebrated the occasion just like I had dreamed we would. Yes, I have dreamed of this moment a few times. And I can now say that my daughter used the potty for the first time. That's not only a huge accomplishment for a toddler, but for parents as well. Our daughter is growing up! It's the little things in life, no matter how they happened, that make us call everyone we know to celebrate!

I may have hyped it up a little too much though. Now when we get even remotely close to the bathroom she says, "All done Mommy." But I'll keep trying, even if she's crying her head off. Because that's how much I love her!