Over the river and through the woods – traveling with children

For some, road trips offer opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors – even stopping to see historical landmarks along the way. But for me and my husband, our recent trip to Colorado proved to be memorable and exhausting, especially with two active girls under the age of three in tow.

Talking to our elders, they all advised us to travel early in the morning, or late at night. That way, the girls would remain asleep for several hours instead of wide awake for the entire trip. We decided to head out before 5 a.m.

Potty training is a learning experience for the entire family

When I was a little girl, my parents always told me that the harder you work to achieve something, the more you will appreciate it in the end. Well, I never knew how true those words would be until now. As my husband and I work to potty train our oldest daughter, I think we all look forward to doing a little “potty dance” when she masters the task on her own.

According to her teachers at daycare, she’s a shining star – she goes to the restroom on time and rarely has an accident. At home, it’s another story. Most of the time, we have to ask her, and even poke and prod her to go to the restroom. But when she’s sitting on the “big pot,” as she calls it (she refuses to sit on her training potty), she’s kicking her legs and smiling.

Day 4 Blues

Preston is three and about to turn four.  He has been daytime potty trained now for quite some time.  We were fortunate enough to catch that window of time when he was ready.  As for nighttime potty training, that’s a different story.

Preston has been wearing a pull-up at bedtime for a while now.  At first we didn’t really work at it.  As he turned three, he still wanted a cup of milk before going to bed, and we allowed it.  At about three and a half, we began noticing that he would wake up dry, so we started noting it.  We cut out milk before bed, and it seemed to work well.  There wasn’t a consistent pattern, but there were dry pull-ups.

Early in the summer, Preston saw a commercial on television for the “bear workshop” as he called it.  “Mama, I want to go there, again!”  He had been there for a friend’s birthday party, and he loved it.  Right then I saw an opportunity to strike a deal.  “Okay, Preston, we will go to the bear workshop if you can be dry five nights in a row!”  He thought it was a great idea, and we shook on it.

A typical day with my 3 year old

I awake each morning with the notion that all the stars will align and my beautiful family of four will start and end the day with a full belly, a happy heart and something new learned.

But more often than not my sweet 3 year old decides to throw an egg at my notion of “perfection!”

Olivia has been working diligently at her potty training.  She always let’s my husband, myself, sissy, a neighbor, and/or a random clerk at the grocery store know when it’s time to go potty!  Which we all celebrate with a high five and “you did it” pee pee dance (something to see).