It's about time...

Zenna is potty trained! I finally bit the bullet last week, and we have come a long way. I was determined that having three in diapers would be horrible, especially since Zenna is getting close to being three.

When Zenna turned two, we started talking to her about the potty. Here is a list of her statements in response:

• "The potty just won't work for me. Diapers are just right."
• She'd pat her diaper (especially when she'd fall on her bum or was riding astraddle a stick horse) and say, "This diaper is just great. I don't need panties."
• "Don't talk to me about it."

She's always been a great talker, and we always laughed about this. A few months ago, she said that if we would buy her a pink Sleeping Beauty Potty, and Sleeping Beauty panties, she would learn to go potty. We were able to find a pink toddler potty (I swore I'd never buy one of those again... I hate them!) and plastered it with Sleeping Beauty stickers. We bought the Disney princess panties (another thing I swore I'd never buy) for way too much money. She put on the panties, and was all excited until we opened the potty. She said, "I can't sit on that! There's a hole in it!" We couldn't get her near it for another month.

I finally decided to buckle down last week. We were home from vacation, and time is ticking. It's now, or when I have a newborn... and that's no fun either.

Turns out, Zenna is a potty prodigy (as I was myself). Well, or after sitting in on all potty sessions for the last 2 years, she understood all about it. After the first day, she could tell me when she needed to go, and we were good. About the third day, she decided that she didn't want to do it anymore. Her solution, "It's ok mommy, I just won't pee pee anymore!" That didn't work. Next day she got back on track. Well, since then we've only had a few mishaps.

What a relief!

Although, it will still be a while before I'm not at all involved in the process, I am glad that she is at this point. Hopefully by the time the baby comes, she'll be all on her own.

There will come a day

There will come a day when my floors will not be littered with crumbs right after I sweep.
And I will not trip over toys in every room.
And the toilet will always be flushed,
the laundry won't create mountains in my basement,
every surface of my house won't be covered in sticky fingerprints.

And that day, there will be no bumps and bruises to kiss better.
There will be no angelic faces smeared with dirt to clean.
No little tiny clothes to wash,
No more giggling screaming girls chasing each other around underfoot.

And that day I will be lonely.

So I will try to appreciate all the evidence that my life is filled with children who love and need me every minute of the day. This time will flee, and I never want to regret the time I don't spend loving it now.