Toilets sign. Credit: © Jordan Siemens/Aurora Photos/Corbis

I woke up this morning with that Monday feeling – not something I get much these days as my “working” week doesn’t start until Tuesday. However, this morning my first thought, as I glanced at my day’s schedule on the Blackberry, was “How could I not have noticed that the Little Chap and I had a dentist check up scheduled for Day 3 of the potty training!?” This was all before even rousing myself from beneath the duvet!

I have to say, the Little Chap was pretty cool today. He took his time on the potty first thing with no result. He also grumbled about it a little! Breakfast followed without a hitch and afterwards he took himself to the potty a couple of times, filling it with wee on the second attempt! By this time, I had managed to get most of the morning’s jobs done and was feeling as ready as I ever would to tackle the first trip out of the house without nappies ON MY OWN! 

I took the portable potty with us in case of accidents but was trying not to make a big deal of anything. We walked/rode in the buggy to the local shops about ten minutes away, where I bought superglue (for my pumps, so they last longer  – frugal Dougal!), went to the cash till and then dropped off some old jumpers at the charity shop, before visiting the tailor to collect a couple of winter coats that I’d had relined.

In a nutshell, this is not easy buggy territory. The tailor’s “shop” is on the first floor of an old building, up a steep and winding flight of stairs. So, leaving the buggy on the pavement outside, the Little Chap and I ascended the stairs. We collected and paid for the coats and spent a few more minutes figuring out how best to transport them and all other paraphernalia (keys, Blackberry, purse, Gift Aid stickers from the charity shop, the Little Chap’s teddy bear, the glue and a Waitrose Delivery carrier bag since you ask!). We decided on putting the coats into the carrier bag and the tailor gave me a smaller bag for all my bits ‘n bobs (bless her!).

We manouevred our way back to the buggy, when the Little Chap announced he didn’t want to go home, he’d like a Babycino please! So adorable, but more than I could face today, so he asked for the park instead. As this was on the way home, I acquiesced. We had about ten or fifteen minutes rushing about and he seemed to be running about without a care in the world.

Shortly after we got home, he wanted to do some colouring with some new stencils, when lunch was ready. I failed to ensure he had sat on the potty before lunch so we had a small accident, which I can now see was the cause of him not wanting to eat anything – well, neither would you with wet shorts! I cleaned him up and put everything to wash and we said no more about it. It is still so fine a balance between him knowing when to go and me having to force the habit but he’s doing so well. I’m desperate not to cramp his style any more than I already have but he still needs to be shown the ropes in terms of timing!

I was a little bouyed by our wee free morning, if a little concerned about dehydration! However, the Little Chap had drunk some of his milk this morning with breakfast, a rare occurance, and the best part of a whole beaker of water before lunch, so I needn’t have been.

I was a little wired when I got him up from his nap! With a deadline for arriving at the dentist, a toddler who still doesn’t like going on the potty when he first wakes and two sets of teeth to clean before I left, this wasn’t looking like plain sailing. He wee’d in the potty after moaning about having to try but seemed delighted with himself.

“Look Mummy! Its like a hose!” interrupted my retelling of a Thomas the Tank Engine tale.

I just about managed to get both our teeth brushed, him dressed and snacked and watered and in to the car, before I noticed I’d left his Neat Seat behind. This is a cunning waterproof/machine washable cushion for his car seat, so should there be any accidents on the way, at least I wouldn’t be worrying about Mayfair Dad’s annoyance at the smell of pee in his beloved Jaguar!

Well, folks, we made it to the dentist, through the dentist with all those new experiences – the photo of the teeth, the ride in the chair, exploring the headless toys in reception(!) and home again, before my ever so grown up little two year old took himself off to the potty without being told! After a good few minutes without any luck, we took his potty outside and started to kick a ball about for a bit. Sure enough the exercise got things moving and we had another couple of pennies in the pot, followed a little later by the long awaited number 2 (hurrah!) while I was on the phone to Mayfair Dad (cue: running commentary of live event, poor man!)

This was the sum of the excitement for the day and I would like to request a huge round of applause please people, not just for the Little Chap’s triumphs today, but for the the biggest one of all – reassuring me that he won’t get phased by this stage and reducing my guilt a little for leaving him with my Mother tomorrow and taking him to nursery on Wednesday. These little hurdles, just got a little bit lower to the ground for me.

So proud, I’m beaming. Here’s to the Little Chap!

Mayfair Mum x

© Mayfair Mum, 2011