Pros and Cons of Potty Training a Fiercely Independent Two-Year-Old

Let me begin by saying that I had no intention of even thinking about potty training Miriam until she was three. Call it laziness, but I just haven't wanted (or been able?) to deal with the time commitment and messes involved with potty training during this pregnancy. Besides, by the time Miriam's third birthday will roll around this summer our baby will be a few months old and hopefully things will have settled down a bit. Sounded good to me.

Of course, I hadn't counted on the fact that Miriam is determined to be potty-trained. Now. I should have guessed that her desire to do everything that big sister can do would have applied in this area as well, but I was still surprised when this week Miriam decided that she was done with diapers. The funny thing is, Miriam has consistently been using the potty without any reminders from me and has kept her underpants dry except for one very minor and one less than minor accident. To be fair, the bigger accident was really my fault because I didn't get to the kitchen and unbuckle her from her booster seat in time.

So what, you may be asking, could possibly be a con with the fact that my daughter has seemingly (and quickly) potty trained herself? Well, you may recall that I have described Miriam as being fiercely independent, much more so than Adriana ever was at two. Everything is "I do it myself!" and we've had more than a few tantrums when there is something that she just can't do herself. While I do admire her can-do attitude more than I would feigned helplessness, when it comes to potty training I would, as the parent, like to be very involved. Or at the very least kept somewhat informed of what is happening.

Miriam can be very creative and resourceful when wanting to do things herself (think trying to wipe, empty the child's potty, and wash your hands when you can't reach the soap by conventional means, all done without having told Mommy you were going potty in the first place). What, you had an accident? Rather than go get Mommy and let her know, you can just take off the wet pants and underpants, put them back in the dresser (since you know that's where clothes go), and since you can't reach the drawer that has clean underpants, you can dig through the dirty clothes hamper for some new ones. Yep, it's been exciting. :)

We'll see how this goes. It doesn't seem like I'll have much of a choice, so it looks like I'll just have to find the patience and the stomach to deal with cleaning up messes and spending extra time in the bathroom with a two-year-old who doesn't want (or think she needs) my help. I'm still insisting on diapers when she's sleeping or we're going somewhere in the car. Of course, that doesn't mean the diapers will stay on.......