Slowly Toward Potty Progress
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Friday, February 26, 2010 10:30 PM
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It was wonderful to get such thoughtful and encouraging advice on my post about our potty woes with our three-year-old. Thank you!
Without going into too much detail (she’s three, but she still deserves some privacy) I will say that your advice was eye-opening for me and gave me some ideas I hope will lead to eventual success.
In the meantime, the situation is messy and frustrating and not a lot of fun. But the other day my sister asked me how things were going on the potty front and as I told her about it, I realized that the current state of affairs is an opportunity. It forces me to choose which is more important to me: my personal convenience or my child. It is her. No matter how tired I am of dealing with the mess, the job of loving my daughter is paramount, and I want it to come first at every moment.
This potty thing is giving me the chance to prove (sometimes multiple times a day) that I mean it. Every “accident” on my daughter’s part is a call for me to swallow my frustration, to be consistent and patient, and above all to be gentle. Insofar as it helps me call on God’s grace to help me do those things, the potty regression is a blessing.
Plus, we had a breakthrough today. Who knows what will happen tomorrow, but today - after weeks of no progress - we suddenly had victory! My daughter, whom I’d left perched on the toilet with a stack of books to read, called to me from the bathroom to give me the good news. I laughed with delight and Camilla clapped her hands joyfully. “I’m so proud of myself!”
“I’m proud of you too, sweetie!” I told her. Just a month ago this event would have been no big deal, but today it was momentous. It made the rest of the day into a Good Day. So there’s another upside of this situation: it gives me new opportunities for joy!
I’ll be even more joyful when I can report that we’ve made permanent progress for the better.
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