GUEST BLOG: It'll Happen... When He's Ready

Today's Guest Blog is from Adam. He is a father of three potty-trained kids which makes him, in my mind at least, a bonified expert. And thankfully, he seems pretty convinced that Owen will figure it out some day.

If I may, some unsolicited advice on the potty problem from a stressed-out and blissfully happy father of three.

Owen's the oldest. The oldest takes the longest. My Oldest Son was definitely over three when he finally decided it was time to stop wearing diapers. Ultimately, he saw that his friends, some younger, were already potty trained, and he decided that enough was enough and he stopped torturing us. Incidentally, a lot of those kids who were younger were second children, not the oldest.

With my Middle Child, our day care lady did it. In about three days. He wanted to be like his big brother. He announced that he was ready for the potty one day. He was about 2 and a half. And just... done. Fast. Of course, this is also the kid who rearranged the entire garage at age six.

My Daughter just turned three and has been potty trained since a month or so before she turned two. Why? Because she's a girl, and she's the youngest, and she needed to be potty trained so she could manipulate us in other ways without fear of reprisals.

My point: It's a big deal to you guys because Owen's not there yet. But if you don't stress, then he has nothing to drive you nuts with (and the kids, as you are oh so aware, learn how to push the buttons really, really early). Of course, of course, easier said than done.

It's stressful because you guys see his advancing age and think he needs to be potty trained by now. But he's the oldest, and he's a boy, and those two factors never work well when you punch them into the potty training equation.

Stop worrying about it. You guys are normal, loving parents and he's a normal kid. None of you is doing anything wrong. There's no guidebook that you have to fit into. One of these days it'll happen. There's a lot of right ways to do it, and also a few wrong ways, but you guys ain't doing it the wrong way.