P is for...Partly through Potty Training

No matter how squeamish you are about bodily functions, as soon as you become a parent you become very intimate with all the "P is for..." words. Like I wouldn't poop at my boyfriend's house in college, but now my husband and I casually discuss poop over curry dinner.

This has somehow increased now that we're partly through potty training a two and a half year old boy. Every few hours we check if he needs to poop or pee, and then sit and coach him through the whole process.

This isn't one of the blog posts where we share the secret to success at potty training a toddler. We have no idea what we're doing.

Sometimes he gets super anxious and lies and says he doesn't have to go, hides, and then goes in secret! Which is weird and we don't want to shame him or make him feel weirder than he already does. So we just carry on and change him as per usual. Maybe we look into probiotics? Maybe stool softeners? Lots of toddler poop concerns.

Sometimes he gets SOOOO excited and he's so proud. Like, as soon as his Dad walked in the door he ran over shouting "DADDY I WENT POTTY I WENT POTTY!"

Sometimes we ask him if he's got to go and he says "Um, yes!" and then we sit down and wait and he says "It's coming, it's coming, I'm gonna go pee." and we just sit there until it comes and we run through the whole cycle of wiping and washing hands.

Sometimes he tells us "I wanna go potty!" and we take him and we sit down and we wait and we go through the whole cycle.

Sometimes we get super excited and promise him a new toy, sometimes we offer a sucker or candy. Sometime we ask him how he feels about wearing big boy underwear and we offer to get Spiderman or Ninja Turtle pairs.

It is VERY inconsistent and we're trying to be encouraging and excited but not make it scary or weird. We are probably overthinking it!

In the meantime we've read lots of books and gotten some board books to read before bedtime.

For some reason, of all the books we've read, the very best book is called: "All Pau with Diapers: A Potty Book for Hawai'i's Kids" by Holly Braffet and we have to read it about 6 times each night and it USUALLY helps with potty time the next day. That is just about the only insight and advice I can give into the potty training experience.

That, and get comfy with poop talk.