15 minute timer

We finally did it. We've taken the leap. There's no turning back now.

We probably could have done this sooner. I was the one dragging my feet. It just seemed so daunting.

What is it, you may wonder?

Potty training.

We toyed around with the idea of potty training Vera last summer right after she turned two. But I had a bunch of back issues related to my pregnancy. And I was hugely pregnant. And we didn't want to run the risk of her regressing once Hattie was born. And did I mention I was hugely pregnant? The idea of cleaning up accidents wasn't exactly thrilling.

Then Hattie was born. And to be honest, I was a bit relieved that I didn't need to worry about Vera peeing her pants while I was breastfeeding Hattie approximately 21 hours a day.

But now Hattie is 4 1/2 months old. And she has a pretty predictable schedule. And there were really no more excuses for not potty training Vera.

I should probably mention that she already poops on the toilet and has done so since November. So that's probably also a reason why I have been okay with taking our sweet time.

We were running low on her diapers though and I decided that it was time to just bite the bullet and jump into the land of potty training. We've talked about it with her a lot. She's peed on the toilet a few times so it isn't a completely foreign concept to her. We've had her underwear since June. It was time.

This morning Vera and I had a conversation that went like this:

"Vera, do you want to do something really exciting today?"

"Yeah!"

"Do you want to wear your...BIG GIRL UNDERWEAR???!!!"

"Ummm...no. I'm okay."

I was not prepared for this answer. I didn't know quite what to do. Anytime we've talked about potty training she's been all about it. I feared we had lost our window of opportunity. Like while I was waiting for her to wake up one morning and just know what to do she had grown tired of the whole thing and decided to stay in diapers forever.

I tried again.

"But wouldn't it be so FUN to wear your BIG GIRL UNDERWEAR and go potty in the BIG GIRL POTTY????!!!!"

"Ummm...no. My diaper is just fine. It's okay."

And that was that. I decided not to push it and instead posed the question to her again after nap. Exactly the same response. Now I really feared that I should have started this a lot sooner. What if we couldn't send her to preschool because she wouldn't potty train? I know, I know. All typical mom fears. But come on, I'm just a typical mom.

When Derek came home from work we tried again. I used my super excited voice earlier in the day but this time I really stepped it up a notch.

"Vera, should we do something REALLY SPECIAL?"

"Yeah!"

"Do you want to wear YOUR BIG GIRL UNDERWEAR??!!!!!"

"Yeah!"

Shock probably covered my face. And then I ran as quickly as I could upstairs to get her underwear. She chose an Elmo pair and from that moment the rest of our day ran on a 15 minute timer.

So far so good. Five potty attempts. Two successes. Zero accidents. But come on, it was only about two hours. There's a lot of hours tomorrow. And the next day. And the next. I'm preparing myself for whatever is to come.