Patience, Persistence & Potty Training

The roller-coaster ride of potty training is never a fun ride.  And although it has been many years since I have had the privilege of jumping on this ride I still remembered it… I remember it well.  My memories of this aren't pretty.  Anxiety would kick in whenever I would think about the inevitable journey that was waiting for me.  There is no magic recipe to this; no fairy godmother will be waiting to fix things; no magic star to wish upon.  Every one of my kids produced a different experience.  Some easier than others but one thing was constant… crap was always waiting to hit the floor and accidents were just a ticking time bomb of stress.

When this most recent (and last I might add) child became ready for this crossover into “big-girl-land" I knew it was time to dig deep.  The dread and stomach dropping feel was real but I had to do it, so it was time to suck it up.  I wasn't ready for the cheering squad that would follow me every time I took her to the bathroom (to say I felt claustrophobic is an understatement).  But her siblings were excited and wanted to celebrate with her, so I had to suck that up too… most of the time;-)  On about day 2 or 3 my husband was done!  He didn't see her connecting the dots, and I must admit I was starting to question whether or not she was really ready as well.  But there were moments of awesomeness… although few, there were moments, so I had to hold on. 

As we did this I started to see that there is an analogy between life and potty training.  No one can avoid crap in their life; it happens to us all.  Accidents will happen; sometimes it’s our own fault and sometimes it’s because of others. Whatever the reasons might be, we all have to go through difficult times.  In those moments sometimes we just have to hold on a little longer.  Sometimes the patience required for ourselves and others is tested, but if we could just persevere and see the awesomeness it can become a little easier to bear.  There are times that we might need a cheering squad because there will be some who think we can’t do certain things.  We need to search for or be the person who believes in others, because people can do extraordinary things.