My Advice for Moms Potty Training Their Kids

This post is sponsored by Savings.com.Over Memorial Day weekend, we took the kids to Disney World.  Every time we would tell people where we were going, they told us we were crazy.  “The lines will be so long,” they said.  And admittedly, I was a bit worried that maybe they were right.  Because kids – especially my kids – aren’t great at waiting lines.

But when we got to Disney World, the lines weren’t long at all.  We cruised through Epcot on our first day, with the longest line being about 10 minutes.  And on our second day, it was pretty much smooth sailing at Magic Kingdom.  But for a mom of two girls – ages 3 & 5 years – a trip to Disney isn’t complete without a visit with a princess or two.  I asked the girls which princess they wanted to see and the answer was unanimous – Ariel.

I checked my Disney app and was thrilled to find that the wait to meet Ariel at her grotto was the shortest of all the princesses in the park, only to actually show up at the grotto as the “Current Wait Time” sign was flipping to 35 minutes (20 minutes more than the app indicated).  Do you know how long 35 minutes is to a 3 year old?  Might as well have been 3 weeks from next Tuesday.  But the tantrum that would ensue if we aborted the mission?  Not pretty.  I knew I didn’t want that.  So my husband agreed to stay with the girls in line, while I sat across the Disney created with baby Everett who somehow managed to fall asleep in the chaos that is 3 kids with their parents at Magic Kingdom.

I sat for what felt like forever, glancing at the exit of the grotto for my husband and kids to exit the attraction.  As the minutes ticked by, I almost felt bad for my husband who was surely wrangling the girls to stay in line, not clime the line cues, and encourage them not sit on the ground.

But then I saw something happening in the line.  Suddenly the organized line seemed disruptive and chaotic, and someone appeared to be running backwards through the cue.  It only took me a second to realize that it was my husband, clutching both girls hands.  Three of them were working their way backwards through the 35 minute line that they had just waited in.  The second I saw his face I recognized it – the “my child(ren) needs to go the bathroom NOW” look.  Every mom knows it.  And judging by the way they were walking, situation was dire.

“We were at the front of the line,” he gasped, out of breath from racing towards the back of the line, “but they both have to go to the bathroom.  They can’t wait.”

So there I was, with no bathroom in sight and 2 kids in desperate need of one.  In that moment I missed the girls being in Pull-Ups.  Because Pull-Ups allowed them the freedom to be big kids, but still allowed the possibility for accidents.  In this case, we had no room for an accident, and if it happened I was going to have to buy a rather pricey outfit to replace their soiled clothes.  Times two.  I could feel my wallet shudder at the thought.

So off we went.  Quickly, but in no particular direction…because I didn’t know where I was going.  It didn’t help that we were in the New Fantasyland that I’m not 100% familar with.  “Bathroom?  Bathroom?”, I yelled to random cast members in the vicinity, hoping one of them would respond.  All the while dragging two kids screeching, “But I want to meet Ariel…  Ariel!  Ariel!” and praying out loud that we’d actually make to the bathroom in time.

In the end, we did make it.  But it was close.  Very close.  Too close.  And luckily when we got back, my husband was able to sweet talk a cast member at Ariel’s Grotto into letting him back to the front of the line.  My girls did get to meet Ariel, but it came with quite a scare.  Not that you’d know it from the picture:

So my advice for potty training parents is this – Potty training is a process.  It’s not just 3 days or a week or a month.  It takes a while for them to really get the hang of it and be consistent.  Be as patient as you can and don’t rush those months in Pull-Ups (here’s a $2 Pull-Ups coupon if you’d like to stock up now)!  And the day that you think you’ve got it down pat, you’ll have a close call, which will send you running through a theme park, clutching your children, praying out loud that you make it to the bathroom on time, and seriously worried for your bank account if you don’t make it.  Totally normal.

Oh, and another piece of advice?  Karma totally exists because I did this exact same thing to my parents at the Dumbo ride in Disneyland when I was 4.  Apparently, close calls have been happening for decades.