Independence Day

You think I will be writing about the Fourth of July- but, no.

I will be talking about this little one:

Before my mom came into town, I told her that one of our tasks while she was here was to potty train Claire.

Neither of us were looking forward to it. My mom was not too excited that I added that to the "to do" list along with a newborn baby. But, Claire was wanting to be trained, and I was not about to do it by myself with the new baby as well. So, I needed my mom.

After two days of sitting in the bathroom with Claire almost non-stop with a few accidents as well, Claire finally went on the potty.

The next day, after sitting on the potty all day, she went again.

After that, it was easy sailing. She was so incredibly proud of herself- the look on her face was priceless. Chocolates also proved to be a major motivator.

It took her a week to go #2 on the potty. But once she did (and she did it all by herself- I didn't even know she was in the bathroom until she came out and told me she had already gone), she has never looked back. After just a week, she was completely potty trained. She has only had 1 accident in 3 weeks, and that was because I put her in time out and she was mad at me and I think she wanted to get back at me. Yes, she's like that.

Now for the reason I titled this post "Independence Day." Most of you know that Claire is quite the strong-willed child. It has been difficult as her mother to figure out how to best help her, and more than once I have ended up in my room in tears as I try to figure out how to handle this child.

Potty training seems to have  helped IMMENSELY. She LOVES the independence and freedom of panties (and of Princess Panties- or her Pull-Ups. You better not ever even suggest she put a diaper on!). Being potty trained has calmed her down. Something psychological happened when she learned to go potty. It all had to be on her own- she was ready, and just the freedom of being able to do that on her own has changed her personality.

Is she a perfect angel child now? No. But, she doesn't have massive tantrums for no apparent reason. She doesn't throw her plate on the floor because she doesn't like what's on it.

We have other issues to work out. Like her spitting- she just picked that up. And she still doesn't listen as well as I would like.

But, we're getting there. One "Independence Day" at a time.