How Potty Training Has Changed My Almost 3 Year Old!

Being the baby of the family, my little Anastasia (Ana for short) gets babied for almost everything!  When it seems like she just can't do something, (like pick up toys) or when she's a little sad, her oldest sister will come to her aid almost immediately.  (Talk about enabling!)  One time when someone was visiting, we introduced her as Anastasia, although almost no one calls her that really, and our visitor asked her if she ever gets called anything else (meaning Ana) and she said, "Yes.  Baby."  That was a good 6 months ago now, but the mentality has stuck with her - even though I keep reminding her that she's almost a big 3 year old!  None of that made a difference until she started potty training!

She's showed an interest in it before, but on Sunday I finally put my foot down and said, "We are starting you tomorrow!"  I explained that this would be her last box of diapers and she would get to wear big girl panties and everything.  Then I also told her she would get stickers and candy. (That's right we're totally using the bribes and treats!) So Monday she used the toilet 4 times and didn't really get into it until Tuesday.  Tuesday it seemed she was going every 10 minutes!  (I counted her stickers after she was in bed and it averaged out to every half an hour - and she did that herself, no timer needed! Amazing!) Although that was a bit tiring for me, it was amazing for her!  I was so proud of her and she seemed very happy herself.  She was singing a happy little song every time she washed her hands!

She did so good that yesterday I let her wear her big girl panties and she did great!  After how she had done the day before I wasn't that surprised, but I wasn't prepared for the rest of what would happen.  Not only did she wear big girl panties, but all of a sudden she could help pick up toys and she vacuumed all by herself!  Mind you she's been frightened of it up until now!  Not only that, but I had to pry it away from her after she had been vacuuming for about 20 min.s and we were ready to eat dinner!

It wasn't until after she was in bed that I started to review the day and realized that her doing potty training has empowered her and made her feel like a big girl!  Watch out world here comes Ana!