She's Ready, I'm Not

On the heels of yesterday's blog about Kate, I have more news. More milestones flying by -- more ways she is growing up way too fast. My news? Last night, Kate pee-peed in the potty.

Now, I don't mean that I put her on the potty and something wet snuck (sneaked?) out and fell into the toilet. This did not appear to be an accidental, I-happened-to-be-sitting-on-the-potty-when-I -peed experience. She really peed on the potty.

Kate has started asking to potty pretty regularly . . . so we've gotten out our little potties, and we've been doing the pre-bath potty thing for about 2-3 weeks now. Last night, I stripped her down for her bath, put her on the potty, and told her, "Now you can put your pee in the potty . . . like Meg does . . . " and kinda pointed down into the potty, as if to show her how it's done. I've done off of this before. Kate knows what she is supposed to be doing on the big white porcelain thing in the bathroom.

Then last night . . . Kate looked at me from the potty, said, "Pee Pee!" and went pee pee.

Naturally, I hooped and hollered and made a big 'ole deal about the pee pee in the potty. Big sister, already in the bath tub, clapped and cheered, too. We all laughed and celebrated, and Kate was very, very proud of her accomplishment.

Then I put Kate's cute little naked butt in the tub . . . and sighed to myself in slight distress.

Yes -- wonderful -- hallelujah -- my 19-mo-old seems like she might want to try the whole potty training process. How glorious it would be to have both children potty trained, to throw away the diapers, and to move on with one pretty significant phase in our child-rearing lives. Truly, it's a great thing.

I think Kate is ready to be potty trained. But I'm not. I will fully admit it: I'm not ready for Kate to be potty trained.

Potty training this time around -- with my 2nd kid -- is something I'm dreading even more than I did the first time around. When I trained Meg, the only part of the process I was dreading was the fact that I'd never done it before . . . I didn't exactly know the best way to go about it, and I was not sure how she'd take to it. This time, I know what I'm doing . . . and I also know what I'm getting myself in to. The idea that Kate is already ready for potty training stresses me out because I know what I'm in for this time. And I'm just not ready to go there yet.

On the good side -- potty training means no more diapers, which is golden. If you could see me through your computer screen, you'd see dollar signs in my eyes as I think of the money we will save by not having to contribute any more of our our hard earned money to Proctor & Gamble's bottom line. No more diapers means I don't have to stop what I'm doing to change a stinky diaper. I don't have to unload our diaper pail any more. I don't have to worry about diaper rash on Kate's little tooshey. I'm so glad that Meg is already well trained as I turn my focus to Kate -- so at least I have Meg's experience behind me and won't have to worry about her potty stops as much. There are many wonderful reasons for me to get Kate wearing panties and using the toilet.

On the bad side -- for the next few months, I'll be constantly thinking about how when Kate will need to potty. Everywhere we go, in everything we do, we will be worried about 2 little bladders and when either of them might need to hit the ladies' room. It's like living on the edge, sort of. There will be accidents. I'll have to start carrying around extra clothes always, and I know I'll have to use them on occasion. There will be false alarms, which are so annoying when you scrounge around in public to find a bathroom. If Kate is like her sister, it will be about 4-5-6 months of her bowel movements being constantly on my mind. It's just stressful. Kate and her new diaper-less hiney will be something of major focus for me for a while. It's very comfortable right now . . . Meg can use the potty by herself, and I just deal with Kate's diapers on my own schedule (unless there is poop, of course). I don't want to give that up.

Like I said, Kate's interest in the potty is clearly there. Her observant mother has picked up on it -- has been picking up on it for about a month or so -- but has been avoiding it. Unfortunately, last night's big event on the toilet is something I really can't ignore. With her level of enthusiasm about pottying, I really should jump on train and try to get her out of diapers.

And who knows? Maybe it will be a cinch for Kate. It certainly was not a big deal for Meg. We did a little potty boot camp over a weekend at our house, and Meg said 'bye bye' to diapers within about a 48 hr period. It could be just as easy with Kate. But there again, it's the weeks that follow that boot camp that stress me out the most -- not the actual act of teaching her to use the potty.

But who am I to complain about any of this, right? I'm sure there are people reading who are irked at me for complaining even one iota about my toddler so ready for the potty. I know I'm lucky to have a little one that is ready so young . . . and that I'm lucky to have had Meg take to potty training with ease. I get that. I'm not complaining about that. I'm just complaining because life is comfortable right now . . . we are in a nice rhythm, nice schedule, life is getting easier and easier with 2 kids . . . and the potty training will upset the apple cart from now until probably the end of the summer. THAT is what I'm dreading. The break in my routine, the added responsibility of a newly trained little one. That's why I am the one not ready for potty training.

**Sigh**

I'll let you know how it goes. There are way more 'good' than 'bad' sides to this argument . . . so I know that it won't be long before I'm hunkering down with Kate in my bathroom, with lots of apple juice and M&Ms by my side.