Today I can say with confidence that Claire is 80% potty trained and this is the greatest accomplishment of my life in parenting thus far. Three weeks ago I decided that I couldn’t wait any longer for her to be “ready.” She was ready. She just didn’t want to do it. So with great courage I pulled the plug on all diapers in the household and resolved to stay home for two weeks.
It was such a battle the first few days. I tried everything to make it fun, and visited the bathroom with her every half hour. It was mentally exhausting! She had lots of accidents and for a while it seemed like we were taking two steps forward, one step back. I lost patience with her once and let things degrade to a horrible battle that ended in tears on both sides. But I kept on. The sticker chart began to work, and soon I had to add another chart to the bathroom wall.
The sound of pee pee in the potty was a miracle to me. It’s weird the things I get exited about these days! Poop is still a challenge, but a manageable one. I’m feeling that we have crossed a bridge out of toddlerhood and into childhood. It’s kinda sad, but amazing to me the things Claire can do for herself now. We’ve both accomplished a lot! 
