Toddlers, for the most part, are wonderful.
You’re past the ‘baby-baby’ stage and have a real little person with their very own personality on your hands – they’re walking, talking, learning at a crazy pace and can be fascinating and fun to be around.
Just not when they’re toilet-training.
If you can afford one of those scary €100-an-hour nannies who can potty-train a child in two days, more power to you.
If not, you might have forgotten what your house smelt like before there was pee on the floor in most of the rooms.
It’s tough out there for potty-training parents, as these tweets demonstrate.
If your daughter fetches and hands you clean diapers, is it time to potty train?
— La Guardia Cross (@LaGuardiaCross) February 7, 2017
My 2-year-old knows the steps of potty training
But not the order
She pulls down her pants
Then walks across the house to find a bathroom
— James Breakwell, Exploding Unicorn (@XplodingUnicorn) December 28, 2016
The joy of finding a pair of undies in the diaper bag when you forgot to pack extras…
the horror of discovering them used #pottytraining
— FirstDraftMom (@PeachyParenting) September 28, 2017
Potty training my last kid: pic.twitter.com/8kIqfENOsC
— MamaFizzles (@MamaFizzles) November 20, 2016
At this point, it’s easier to point out where there’s not pee on the carpet #pottytraining
— Rebecca Lang (@rlang165) September 28, 2017
Never pictured myself singing high praises and thanking someone for letting me wipe his butt, and yet, here I am. #momlife #pottytraining
— carhar (@Eitas1) September 28, 2017
It seems that with boy potty training comes the realization that they can now grab their business thanks to big boy underpants.
— Kristen Mei Chase (@thatkristen) May 17, 2009
"Do something that scares you every day," I whisper as I leave the house with my potty-training toddler.
— Leslie Gaar (@lgaarwrites) July 8, 2017
Parenting pro tip: If you're considering repainting the walls in your bathroom, rethink that until your boys are done potty training
— Beau Coffron (@lunchboxdad) June 3, 2017
Having cuddles & watching Paw Patrol with son thinking:
"Aw, this is nice"
Then he pissed on my leg.#pottytraining #DadLife #parenting
— OldBones (@OldBonesBfd) September 29, 2017
Whoever invented the phrase "shit or get off the pot" clearly was in the midst of potty training. God DAMN, kid.
— Linda (@Sundry) January 10, 2011
Now all we need to do is teach her to lift the lid… 🙄 #PottyTraining pic.twitter.com/QYe4SZf3Eg
— Annette Freeman (@Annette_Freeman) October 8, 2017
Potty-training 1st kid: reward chart, underwear, sitting on potty regularly.
Potty-training subsequent kids: keep them in diapers. Repeatedly sigh and say, "We should probably potty train you, huh?"
— Walking Outside in Slippers (@WalkingOutside) January 17, 2018
That moment when you realise you've been walking round with your potty training toddler's poo on your top all afternoon… pic.twitter.com/Up6MkfkyRL
— Emily Tredget (@EmilyTredget) August 22, 2017
5-year-old: *walks in holding the toddler's training potty* She peed! She peed!
Me: It's empty.
5: Well, it was full.
Oh, God.
— James Breakwell, Exploding Unicorn (@XplodingUnicorn) January 12, 2018
You know you are a parent when someone texts you a pic of poop in a potty and your first reaction is "Hurray!!" #pottytraining 💩
— Jenny Nuber (@NuberTweets) September 21, 2017
Potty training: Because I didn't have enough laundry to do already.
— MyMomologue (@MyMomologue) January 29, 2018
We think Amanda sums it up best:
Potty Train Your Child In 12 Easy Years
— Amanda Mancino-Williams (@Manda_like_wine) July 27, 2015
Don’t worry: there is light at the end of the tunnel (or pee in the potty, if you will). Check out our guides to potty training here and here in the meantime.
