The Big Stink about Potty Training

Avery and Lexie are almost 2-and-a-half years old, and that has good ol' Mom counting the remaining months until they need to be potty trained. Oh crap. (Pun intented)

Our daycare center, or "school" as we call it, officially requires its students to be proficient on the potty at age 3. Now, I've heard through the mommy grapevine that some of the kids in the Young 3s class do not meet that stipulation, and as far as I know they haven't been permantly pulled off the playground. Yet.

But, my innate obessession with following the rules has me mildly stressed about meeting this milestone. Not so much with Lexie. She regularly goes "pee pee" and "poo poo" in the potty at school and at home. She doesn't do it every time, but she does do it most of the time. It's Avery I'm a little worried about.

Avery will tell me that she needs to go, but she never delivers. In fact, she'll barely sit down on the special Sesame Street character seat that fits on the "big potty" for more than five seconds. Apparently, Geof's self-diagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder is hereditary.

So, since Avery won't sit on the toilet, she won't go in the toilet. We definitely don't want to pressure her or force her in any way if she's not ready. (I've read that only results in really bad bathroom issues later on. No thanks!) But, we do want her to get on a path to potty success sometime soon. It's what's best for everyone's bottom line. Seriously, do you know how much money we've spent on diapers in 2.5 years? Bring on the Yo, Gabba! Gabba! panties!

To help, we plan to institute a sticker reward system for the twins this month. It seems to work really well with Lexie at school, so we think it should work well at home, too. After a successful session on the potty, they can pick out their sticker of choice and put it on a chart. When they get a set number of stickers, they get a prize. From the dollar store. Remember, we spend all our money on diapers and wipes. :)

There are two other key things that are challenging about potty training my twins. First, they're little. Lexie weighs just over 25 pounds. Avery weighs just under 25 pounds, thanks to a tough bout of pneumonia last month. The smallest training pants I've found (that don't cost as much as a car) are 2T. The girls just don't have enough junk in the truck to hold up 2T bottoms. So, we're a little stuck in the diaper department as far as up-and-down ease is concerned.

Second, the girls fight over whose turn it is to sit on the potty. And, by the time I've dried the tears and determined the potty priority, they aren't interested in going. This funny (and irritating) competition takes forever, especially when we're getting ready for bath time at night. The girls race constantly back and forth between the garden bath tub in our bathroom (it's big enough for two girls to "swim" in at the same time) and the guest room bathroom where we keep their Sesame Street seat, vying for prime potty position. It takes a solid 20 minutes for me to referee the contest and get everyone in the tub, which by that point is nearly overflowing with scented bubble bath.

Good times. Just imagine if we'd had triplets! Geez!

Although the potty training trials may not always be fun (or smell good), they will make the time when Avery and Lexie are able to go on their own that much better. Please, let that be soon.