Potty Progress?

I think potty training is a special circle of hell for parents. It feels like we've been working on potty training with S FOREVER.

In reality, we started working on potty training S last June. Yes, A YEAR AGO. She expressed interest in the potty at that time, so like the eager-beaver parents we are, we got S moved up a class at day school two months early to a class where they worked on potty training. She was not quite two at the time.

She took to it pretty well for a few weeks, at one point going pee pee on the potty three times in a single day. Based on that, I thought FOR SURE she would be fully potty trained by the time we went to Jamaica in September.

If you are a mother with older children reading this, I know what you are thinking: "HAHAHAHAHA! Like that was going to happen! Silly, first-time Mommy!"

Unfortunately, in July, my husband had to have emergency abdominal surgery and ended up being in the hospital for three days and then recovering and unable to lift, carry, or care for S for about six weeks after. Confused by her unexpected stay with the Grandparentals while J was in the hospital and then her Daddy's sudden inability to do anything with/for her, S completely regressed. No potty for her. Accident after accident in her panties at school. My dreams of diaper freedom by Jamaica ended. J and I tried to stay with it and get her back on track for awhile, then completely backed off potty training for months in defeat.

In November, J thought we should kick start it again with a potty weekend, where we cover the house in plastic, put out the potties, put S in panties, and let her realize that it feels like, well, crap, to pee or poop in your panties and you should run to the potty instead. A friend had told me about this and said you had to do it for three days straight, then you never put them in a diaper again. Riiiight.

Now, my husband does not have the patience or attention span to do anything for three days straight unless it's play World of Warcraft or rebuild a computer, so I did not hold out high hopes for us making it through a three-day weekend only focused on going potty.

J lasted until about 2 p.m. on the first day and then he was ready for it to be over. LOL. S, upon feeling any sensation of poop or pee would run off the plastic we laid down to cover our carpet, stop on our kitchen tile, and cry and go in her panties there, no matter how much we tried to get her on the potty. So epic fail all the way around.

At this point, I was willing to back off potty training until the summer before Kindergarten. I figured by then she might get the hang of it. However, in February, her teachers started pressuring us to send panties to school and they would work on it with her there. No way, I said, remembering last summer's parade of poop-filled laundry when S regressed during potty training. I told them, of course, I wanted them to keep working on getting her on the potty to go, but they could just keep her in pullups because she would never TELL US she needed to go and making a mess in her panties did not seem to deter her. All it did was make my life a stinky poopy hell trying to get stains out of the laundry each night!

So S would faithfully sit on the potty at school as directed by her teachers, but she wouldn't go. At all. At home, we brought out the Sesame Street potty poster that came with her Elmo potty and put it on the wall, all ready for stickers. For weeks it hung, stickerless.

Then, sometime in late March, the tide turned, thanks to my mother, the Nana. S stayed with the Grandparentals overnight on a weekend and the Nana got her to go pee pee on the potty by saying if she went pee pee, she would get to call Mommy and tell her. Amazingly, this worked. Turns out S likes to get to call someone and have them praise her for her potty-going accomplishments! I got several phone calls that day from S saying, "I went pee pee on the potty, Mommy!"

I need positive affirmation of my potty progress people-hand me the phone!

But back at school and at home, S's potty standoff continued. She would only go for Nana. A few weeks later, I took S to school-a rare occurrence as J usually takes her-and I told her if she went on the potty for me, we would call Nana and tell her. AND IT WORKED. After that, she started going potty for J as well as Nana and me. She likes to call someone and tell them afterwards...Nana, me, or Daddy depending on who gets her to go. She also started getting to put stickers on her poster, which she likes a lot.

A few weeks ago, I relented and started sending panties to school. She has had some poopy accidents, but it has not been a few times a day every day like last summer. The last few weeks she has come home from school in panties without having an accident in my car. Last Thursday, she got a big sticker, because she wore panties all day without an accident!
The next day, although I have been totally chickensh*t to take her out of the house in just panties, I took her shopping sans pullup or diaper. She went pee pee on the potty for me after we'd been out for over an hour and had eaten lunch. Sadly, 20 minutes after that success, she pooped in her pants. However, I had brought an extra outfit and plastic bag and wipes, so I cleaned her up and changed her and she was good to go. It was not as scary as I thought it would be.

She's definitely making progress. She completely understands to hold the pee until she's on the potty when wearing her panties, but she does not grasp the idea of doing the same with her poop. She DOES NOT want to go poop on the potty! The last time I tried to get her to do so, by the time I got her to the potty and pulled her pants down, she had already pooped, and half of it got all over her pants and the potty seat and the other half fell on my foot. That's right. ON MY FOOT. Not. Glam.

So, we're still working on it. She turns three in August. I think she will be completely in panties by then, but still having poop accidents. My new goal is for her to be peeing and pooping in the potty by the time we go to Walt Disney World in November, but we'll see. This time around, I'm not so naive as to think it will be that easy! (I also have a mom friend with a four-year-old son who REFUSES to poop in the potty. Still. She is beside herself.)

Potty training...not glamorous and not for the faint of heart. Just like the rest of motherhood. :)

What worked for you when you were potty training your kids? Especially to get them to poop on the potty? This will end someday, right? Talk to me!

Queens for a Day

Every year, May to June is a crazy time. My birthday always falls a week after Mother's Day and my mother, the Nana's, birthday is a few weeks later and always falls near Father's Day. Every year, Mom and I rack our brains over what to get each other for these occasions. (Father's Day, sadly, does not usually warrant too much fanfare...maybe a barbecue dinner or picnic!)

This year, I decided to take two days of vacation, a Monday and Tuesday, for my birthday. S had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, my actual birthday. On Monday, I thought I would send S to school and then either get a massage or go to an afternoon movie or something. When I mentioned this plan to Mom, she suggested we do a spa day together and count it as Mother's Day and my birthday. "Why not your birthday too?" I suggested. And then Mom said, "And let's go to a really nice spa, not just a day spa."

Now, I should explain at this point that my Mom and I are not fancy people. I've had the good fortune to go to several spas, day and otherwise, in different cities. My Mom has only done day spa stuff with me, maybe twice before, and never a full massage, only facials and pedicures and such. So I was a little surprised at her request, but all for it. I researched and found out that the Mokara Hotel on the San Antonio Riverwalk has the only five-star spa in town. They have a package where you and a friend can get a massage and a deluxe pedicure and enjoy lunch on the rooftop deck overlooking the skyline of the city. It's a little expensive, but sounded great.

When I proposed the idea to my Mom, not only was she raring to go, she upped the ante. "Why don't we check in the day before and spend the night at the hotel and have dinner on the Riverwalk? I mean, it is for both our birthdays and Mother's Day, so we should go all out!" she said. So we did!

Getting ready to head downtown for our Mother-Daughter Retreat

And it was wonderful! The staff at the Mokara Hotel treated us like queens. When they discovered we were from San Antonio, it seemed like they went out of their way to make our stay special. Would you like complimentary champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, and a cheese plate sent to your room? Yes, please! We can put you in a better room if you don't mind waiting a little bit, is that okay? Yes, thanks! How about a tour of the spa while you wait? OK, great! And now enjoy drinks on the river and we'll call you when your room is ready!

Isn't my Mom cute?

Cheers!

And they didn't actually call--the Manager came and PERSONALLY ESCORTED US UP TO OUR ROOM. I thought my mother's eyes were going to bug out of her head--she couldn't believe it! Didn't he know we were just regular people?! LOL

And then our bags, which had magically disappeared when a gentleman took our car off to valet parking, leaving my mother fretting slightly over their whereabouts, were delivered, followed shortly afterwards by the champagne, strawberries, and cheese. We kicked back and snacked on all our goodies, plus a few nuts and snacks in the minibar and just talked and talked. It was really lovely.

Later in the evening, we wandered down the Riverwalk and stopped in at the Republic of Texas restaurant for dinner. We sat on the patio, watching the world stroll by on the Riverwalk and noshing on fantastic Tex Mex appetizers and drinking frosty margaritas! So good!

After dinner, we went back to our room and watched a bit of the Survivor finale. Then, we put on our suits and headed upstairs to check out the rooftop's heated pool and hot tub.

Looking at the stars and the skyline from the heated pool, we decided "This is the life! If only we could do this all the time!"

The next day, we enjoyed our spa experience to the hilt. We relaxed, we got massaged, we lunched on the rooftop in our spa robes, neck warmers, slippers, and shades, we drank more champagne, we got our toes done, we steamed, and we whirlpooled. It. Was. Amazing.

Post-massage lunch on the rooftop deck.
Mom and I wore our robes, slippers, and neck warmers, plus shades, of course!

All too soon, it was time to leave. Mom and I were super-relaxed after our day of pampering and wanted nothing more than to go upstairs to our room, crawl into our plush beds, and nap until dinner time. Unfortunately, we had to go pick S up from day school, which was sure to bring us back to reality with a thud.

"When we do this next year, we should stay TWO nights," my Mom said. And just like that, a tradition was born.

Happy birthday, Mom! I love you! Thanks for being a wonderful mother, an amazing Nana, and an even better friend. I am already looking to next year's Mother-Daughter Retreat!

Note: I was not paid in any way for my experience at the Mokara Hotel and Spa or the Riverwalk. All opinions expressed are my own, achieved on my own dime. :)