Potty Training: Not Done Yet

I haven't written about potty training for a while.  You guys probably thought I was done.  You guys probably thought I had mastered the toilet.  You guys probably thought I was a miracle worker.  You guys were wrong.  It's not over... and I wonder if it ever will be.

You see, one of the biggest problems in parenting is consistency.  Parents who don't practice consistency usually have children with poor behavior.  The children don't have a clear concept of what is acceptable and what is not.  And consistency is important in every single aspect of life.

The biggest problem with consistency is that it's absolutely exhausting!

I always start off strong and then gradually let things slide and slide until I have a complete landslide that has engulfed everything.  (Ok, that's a bit dramatic).  But that's how I feel when it comes to this potty training thing.

We started off really strong... after 3 days, Marco pretty much had it.  But then he started having accidents... mostly when we were out.  So I'd take several changes of clothes along with me, but sometimes I'd go through all of them.  He'd pee his pants while in a high chair at a restaurant or while playing at a friend's house.  The worst day was when we went to go visit my friend and her daughter.  He peed his pants in the car on the way there, so we changed clothes.  About half hour later he pooped his pants.  We changed clothes again.  Then I decided to do a load of laundry at her house because I was afraid he'd continue to have accidents.  Thank God I did because he had 3 MORE accidents.  I figure he was just in a new environment and having a lot of fun, so he wasn't thinking about having to go to the bathroom.

So after that day I decided we'd do underwear at home and pull-ups while out of the house.  And honestly I thought this was a good setup because it was hard for me to have to find a public bathroom, get the large stall, put toilet paper on the seat, etc, with Jonas in tow.  If I don't have my stroller with me, I don't know where to put him... he can't stand on his own yet.  So... yeah, it was more convenient for me to not deal with potty training while out of the house.

But of course then I got lazy.  I'd leave the pull-up on him when we got home from wherever we were and would delay putting on his underwear.  And I wouldn't remind him to go to the bathroom.  Obviously he's had a regression.  Now when he's in underwear he has accidents all the time.  I'm discouraged because I feel like we might have to start again... and I blame my own laziness 100%.

So, it's not over.  We're not done yet.  I'm still cleaning up pee off the floor.  I'm still scraping poop off of underwear and hand washing it in the sink.  I've gotta get my act together... consistency is key!