Potty Training

Potty training Ruby made for an interesting day Tuesday. Over the holidays she became accustomed to olivia being home all the time. My wife did all the heavy lifting in the potty-prep department. Honestly, she did all of the lifting. Flash forward to this week, olivia is back at work and I am at home and attempting to follow through with the potty routine my wife set in place. I will soon find out that things will not be going according to plan.

In the morning, we transition from a pull-up into real underwear, which Ruby loves. I ask her every twenty minutes or more if she has to go, to which she always says no. She gets up from her toy piano and I can see the stool is wet. This is accident number one. We have a little talk about the potty and make sure it is always in the same room with us.

Later Ruby comes in and I can see poop running down her leg. In case I didn't notice, she looks at me and says "daddy, its on my leg." I carry her into the restroom but not before leaving a trail on the carpet, the toilet, the toilet seat, etc. I start the bath water and pull off her underwear...at this point poop is everywhere. Ru is crying and its breaking my heart. I know she can't understand what is happening and I know she feels bad about the situation though it is in no way her fault. It is ours. 

I get her cleaned up and I continue asking and she always says she does not need to go. Five minutes later she runs and jumps into my lap and I can feel the third accident through my pants. I make her try on the potty which yields no results and we are on to the fourth pair of panties of the day.

At this point I fully expect another accident and it comes later in the afternoon. I am numb. Nothing I get on my hands from this point on will ever make me cringe or dry-heave ever again. Adding insult to injury, as soon as olivia gets home Ruby uses the potty like a champ.

The lesson for me in all of this is just because one of us has a routine or system in place with the girls, this does not necessarily mean it will carry over when the other parent is alone with them. Looking back, I know this works the other way around as in the past I have had less discipline issues with Ruby than olivia has had to face. At times, she seems to think she can walk all over olivia (which is true sometimes) but as the bad cop, she knows her limits with me. Unfortunately these limits do not include total control of bodily functions.