Potty Training....for real!

WARNING: This is going to be a sappy Mom post...and it's going to get real. Viewers beware!

***Just realized I never mentioned in here that this is Heather posting :)***

So, I'm sure you have heard of books or heard friends and family tell you how they have potty trained their children in 1 week...3 days...24 hours! I do not doubt that this could be true, however, this is not the case in my situation. I knew going into this it would probably take a little bit more time since we are dealing with a speech delay, however, no one told me how incredibly hard this would be!

I'm not exaggerating when I say this is one of the hardest things I have done in my life (in fact those words came out of my mouth to my husband "This is the hardest thing I have ever done!" I get the look of "really? REALLY?" Um...yes...REALLY!) I never thought I would cry, pray for, celebrate, clean up SO much urine/feces in all my life...but I did all of those things. The first 2 days were terrible and I really wanted to quit, but we stuck it out. We are now going on week 4 and there is still a learning curve, but I think he is getting it. He now likes to tease me and say "go potty" because he gets such a good reaction out of me - "You need to go potty?! Ok, let's go!" and then he says "NO!" but one time he told me "go potty" and didn't  respond "NO!" so I took him and he went! Oh, the miracles! (See, my life revolves around that porcelain throne!)

What I have learned:

1. I could sing you a bunch of songs about going potty because little Owie bears new favorite video is Potty time (from the makers of signing time).
2. He is almost completely potty trained with me because when I am with him, I won't let him out of my sight until he has gone potty. Then, I give him an hour break and start following him around the house again.
3. Going out in public the first time in underwear was terrifying, but we made it through!
4. I never thought I was the kind of person that could deal with/clean up someone else's bodily fluids, but apparently when you love someone, it isn't so bad. 

The biggest thing I have learned:

EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT.  Ok.. her comes the sappy mommy part. the biggest lesson I have learned from having a child with developmental delays is this: Developmental delays does not mean limits.. it just means a different time table. I don't know if my sweet little boy will get this potty training thing in 2 days or 2 years, but I know he will eventually get it. He has taught me so much patience, and believe me, I am anything but patient! This has been a great life lesson for me because I always want everything to work out in my own way and in my own time table, but that is not always the case.

Being a Mom is hard. Being a Mom of a special needs child is hard. Being a Mom of any child is hard. Being a working Mom is hard. Being a stay at home Mom is hard. Not being a Mom when you want to be is hard.

I just want you all to know that I think you are all awesome! I have had the privledge of working with some of the strongest, smartest, most empowering women I have ever met and I am so grateful for that. Thank you for sharing in this journey with me and listening to all my stories about my life!

And so we go on...Stay tuned because one day I will post that potty training is complete and I won't have to think about the potty again... Until the next kid is ready! haha. Potty training = good birth control :)