Like some clueless first-time parents, we had this idea that our son would potty train himself. There would be a natural progression, until one day, he?d tell us he was done with diapers. We?d cheer and go for ice cream, and it would be awesome.
It didn’t happen that way. Obviously.
As he passed age two and a half, we occasionally convinced him to go outside his diaper, mostly in locations he found intriguing, like by the side of the road, in parks, on the grass and in the scuzziest restaurant bathrooms he could find. But usually there was no interest. We?d ask and get a firm, but polite, ?No, thank you.?
His third birthday loomed, and our progress stalled. We started googling and discovered we?d missed a window around two and a half. Panic set in. We heard a horror story about a woman who had to keep her child out of junior kindergarten because he wasn?t potty trained. Our rational minds knew he wasn?t going to college in diapers, but we also felt like it was time to get to it. After receiving several books from friends that all seemed to frustratingly downplay my husband?s involvement by centring on the mother?s role?and making jokes about dad staying out of the way except to fetch things?we settled on the three-day potty training boot camp?style method called 3 Day Potty Training by Lora Jensen. Jensen, the self-proclaimed Queen of Potty Training, doesn?t have a medical or professional child care background, but her experience starts with her own six children and s...