Wearing Her Big Girl Panties

So if you read my last post {or even looked at it} it's pretty clear that Maggie has been potty training.  I can use the past tense loosely, because guess what?...we are done.  My Maggie IS potty trained.  Woo hoo!

I decided to take a whole new approach this second time around.  {second meaning Jack was the first}  I opted for the 3 Day Potty Training Boot Camp Program.  I couldn't do another 3 months of gradual milestones like I so patiently attempted with Jack.  No, it was time for something new.

So I read my manual twice, all 38 pages of it.  Stocked up on M & Ms, princess panties, an extra pink potty seat and filled up all of Maggie's juice cups.  Then I checked the calendar for 3 solid days that we could be home.  And that is where I ran into my first challenge.  Geez.  Who knew it would be so hard?  We must be a busy little family.  I finally came to the conclusion that it had to be Spring Break.  Happy Spring Break to my kids, huh?  While the rest of you are out beaching it we are potty training.

The first day, or let me clarify the first hour of the first day, I almost threw in the towel.  Any towel.  But, preferably one of the ones I used to clean the urine up off my floor.  Three times in a 80 minute time period, mind you.

And then God intervened.  The 4th time, which was really only a few hours into our 3 day boot camp, Maggie got it.  She said, "uh-oh and ran to the bathroom".  I squealed, hugged her, did a back flip, and then practically dumped an entire bag of M&Ms in her arms.

So, for that first day we dealt with dribble and then a run to the potty.  The dribble was tiny enough that I no longer had to use my towels, but that we still had to change princess panties.  {which gave Maggie great pleasure}.  And this is also the evening we traipsed up to our neighborhood clubhouse for the Egg Hunt.  Brave, aren't we?  But, Maggie was dong so well by 4:30 pm {ON THE FIRST DAY!} that we did and it was a dry success!

By day two, Maggie's dribbles were lessening.  Panty changes were few and farther between {which was a bit of a disappointment to her, but the M&Ms made up for it} and she was dry through her entire nap.  My girl was on a role.

Come day 3, we were pretty much golden.  I even considered braving life beyond the confines of my home, but opted not to.  Bathroom visits were still very frequent and I felt it was important to stick to the plan.

So my Maggie is officially a big girl.  She wears princess panties all day long {and for the most part the same pair}.  We do make lots of potty visits and keep a potty chair in the car {which she adores for some odd reason}.  And we are still rewarding with M&Ms {she prefers the pink ones naturally}.

And now this proud Mama sits back and wonders why I didn't do this earlier.  It was almost too easy.  I want to kiss the author of this program, but since I can't do that I've just been kissing all over my potty trained Magpie!  She is amazing!