Potty Training

*Warning: This post may be traumatic to any mother who has a child to potty train.* Every mother knows the horrors of potty training. It consumes your life, it ruins your carpet and it stresses everyone out. All these things considered, I was not in any rush to potty train Julia. Most of her friends are potty trained, but she wasn't showing much interest...in fact, basically there was no interest, at all. Then, two weeks ago something changed. We came back from swimming and in the midst of changing the girls out of their swimsuits, Julia ran to the bathroom and went potty. I was stunned. The next day the exact same thing happened. Alright, fine, maybe she is ready for potty training I thought to myself. Rachelle gave me a book that worked wonders for Tori. I read it over the weekend and Ben and I decided we'd give it a go. We got toys, treats, juice and panties for both Julia and Adria. (I'm telling you, there is no way I could train only Julia, Adria had just as many signs of readiness, or more, and she wouldn't be left out of something that looked so rewarding). So today was D-Day. The plan was to be diaper free by nap time. Then, last night at 10pm I started throwing up...again and again. I have the flu. But we had prepped Julia, talked it up, shown her the toys and treats, and she woke up excited for the day. So, with love for my daughters, I sat Julia on the little pink potty and sat Adria on the big potty (they picked it, not me) and then I threw up in the sink. Still, the girls did well. They got stickers when they practiced running to the potty, candy or juice when they practiced sitting on the potty and toys when they actually went potty. Julia was first, she went pee-pee twice. Then Adria left a gift for me too. I threw up again. This was all before 9am. Then something went wrong....Adria peed all over the floor and Julia stopped going all together. Finally it was 1pm and nap time. We had spent basically all morning in the bathroom so as not to stain the other carpet. I was so tired and ready for naps, but Julia hadn't gone since early in the morning and I was really concerned she was going to go in her sleep. I think she knew it too because she planted herself on the potty and wouldn't move. She ate her lunch there, read books, sang songs, played with toys. Finally, at 2:30 I peeled her off, screaming and crying, and put her to bed. I put a diaper on Adria for her nap because I know she goes in her sleep, but I thought Julia would do okay if I was right there when she woke up to put her on the potty. I slept on the couch for 20 minutes only to be woken up to Adria's screams. I went in to find that she had taken off her diaper and wet the bed. As I finished changing the sheets and her clothes, Julia woke up crying after only an hour of sleep. I ran in to put her on the potty, but I was too late. The bed was wet, but surprisingly not very. She had drank close to 30 ounces of juice. (the book told me to!) I ran her to the bathroom, sure that there was more to come....and there was. Julia started coughing and then she gagged and then as I picked her up to put her over the sink, she puked all over the carpet, the hard floor, herself, the potty, the rug, and my face. 30 ounces of juice, 10 mini candy bars, lunch and breakfast....everywhere. Luckily, Ben was home to work on a project and he took the girls while I cleaned up the bathroom. Potty training is now on hold until a future date when the smell of throw up is no longer in my bathroom. Maybe a year from now?