Potty Training Is Awful

It's been a while since I've written.  The transition to the kids being out for the summer means my house becomes total chaos.  Not only do I have a 5-, 4-, and 3-year old to deal with on a daily basis, but I also have my 7-year old niece and my 10-year old nephew.  That's 5 children every weekday.  I'm so busy dealing with children that there is no time for me to write on my blog.  Which is unfortunate, because I find my blog to be a wonderful outlet for the daily frustrations as a mommy and as a woman with PCOS.

This week, Aunt Flo is visiting.  My face looks like a pizza.  I've had a headache for 4 days in a row.  My lower back aches.  My cramps feel like a bobcat is trying to claw its way out of my uterus.  Overall, I'm just cranky and exhausted.  It's taking every ounce of my energy to try and be patient with my children this week.  Fortunately for my niece and nephew, they are on vacation this week, so they don't have to deal with cranky Aunt Melissa.  My children aren't so fortunate.

My oldest son has been a little monster this week.  He has development delays, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, Impulse Control Disorder, and Anxiety (and those are just the things that have been diagnosed by his psychiatrist and therapist).  http://pcosmommydiary.blogspot.com/2015/02/raising-special-needs-child.html

I never know which Brennan is going to wake-up each morning.  Today (fortunately for me and him), he is sweet, loving, and just wants to please me.  However, he has peed in his pants twice today because he is waiting too long to go to the potty and ends up wetting his pants.  He doesn't usually do this, so I'm a little frustrated with him today.  However, I will take today a thousand days in a row over the last 2 days.  The last 2 days with Brennan have been a real challenge.  He has been defiant, argumentative, destructive, hyper, and just a real pain in the you-know-what. 

Brennan has been doing really well going to the potty for a while now.  He went through a phase during the last month or so of school where he was pooping in his pants on purpose.  I'm not sure why he was doing it because he couldn't explain it to me himself.  His therapist is trying to help him understand his emotions better so he can tell me what is bothering him.  He has been mostly potty-trained since last year.  He still has to wear pull-ups at night because he sleeps like a log, but other than that, he usually doesn't have many accidents. 

My daughter, Summer (4), has also been potty-trained since last year.  However, recently she has decided that using the potty is too much of an inconvenience to her play time.  She keeps peeing all over herself on a daily basis, usually multiple times a day.  When I ask her about it, she just says she wanted to play.  I'm so annoyed by this behavior.  Basically, she is being lazy.  She will be playing in the hallway right next to the bathroom and pee in her pants.  She is literally 3-feet from the toilet and won't stop playing long enough to walk those 3 steps.  It's so frustrating.  I stopped letting her wear underwear.  She has to wear pull-ups every day now.  I got tired of changing her clothes 2 or 3 times a day.  I've tried rewards for going to the potty and I've also tried punishments.  Neither of these methods seem to be encouraging her to use the potty.

I'm also potty training my 3-year old, Jordan.  He will usually poop on the potty when we are at home, but he won't go pee on the potty all of the time.  If we are out in public, he will go pee at a public toilet, but he usually won't poop on a public toilet.  At home, we have a potty-training seat that goes over the standard seat.  When we are out at a public restroom, he feels like he is going to fall in the toilet, so he won't take the time to poop.

None of my kids will wake up at night to go to the potty.  I feel like I've done nothing but change diapers and clean dirty bottoms for 3 years.  For the most part, that feeling is correct.  Brennan and Summer are now old enough that I make them clean their own bottoms, but Jordan still has to have help in this department. 

I know when they are finally fully-potty trained I will be relieved, but I will also be sad.  This will mean that the last part of their babyhood is gone.  However, I will be relieved to not have to constantly wash pee-soaked clothing and bed linens.  All 3 of them usually sleep 10+ hours each night and completely soak through a night-time pull-up, their pajamas, and sometimes even their bed linens.  I feel like my house probably smells like urine all of the time, so I have air fresheners in every room.

I'm so over potty training.