on potty training

Potty training and I are not friends!  I used to say it was the worst thing I'd had to deal with in parenting up until now.  I'm not sure that's true anymore.  (I think sending my babies off to school and missing them so much for so much of the day is way worse than potty training.  But, of course, I used to make that oh-so-wise statement before I had any school-aged children.)

I don't know if it's because I've done it a couple times before or because of the gender difference, but Levi has been a piece of cake compared to his sisters.  Most likely, it's a little of both.  Or maybe it's because my worst-parenting-issue-to-deal-with-up-to-now has changed and potty training now seems like small potatoes.

We're a few weeks in and he's still going strong.  Pee-ing came pretty naturally to him.  Maybe I should clarify, standing up to pee in the potty and then pee-ing again all over the bed while sleeping came naturally to him.  Oh, and, of course stripping down and pee-ing all over the trampoline while his sisters squealed came naturally to him. 

I used diapers/pull-ups while Addison was sleeping when I trained her, but I went straight to panties 24/7 when I trained Libby.  It seemed like Addi's training dragged on and on and on.  So, after we got past Libby's extreme stubborness, the initial training was much easier with her.  Of course, she's Busy, so we went through years (still going through?) of her not wanting to stop whatever she was doing to go potty and then not being able to make it in time.  I opted to go the no diaper/pull-up route with Levi.  The problem was ("See, the problem is..."Makes no sense to anyone, but B :) he never woke when he went in the bed.  And, then when he woke from his nap or in the morning and he was soaked (and sometimes dirty), it didn't bother him!  Not one bit!  In fact, sometimes he would argue and whine while I stripped him down and cleaned him up. 

Finally, this week, I'd had enough.  Enough changing clothes and sheets 3 times a day and enough laundry!  I had two diapers left and I stuck one on him Monday night.  The other one was used during naptime on Tuesday.  We made a quick trip to Target to buy our last (fingers crossed) box of diapers and he's set for a while.  I was so afraid I'd get him "hooked" on diapers again.  It doesn't look that way, but we're only a few days in.  And, you know, it will still be years before he starts sleeping over with friends, so as long as he's out of diapers by then, I think it's fine. 

The moral of this story:  each child is truely unique and what you do for one, you really can't do for all!  Mothering sure would be easier if you could treat them all the same, but it wouldn't be nearly as interesting :)