The world of potty-ing has changed by definition dramatically for me over the last several years. One minute you’re stumbling out of a comedy club at 1am and headed up into the Hills for an after party and the next, well…you’re teaching little folks how to actually use a potty – something I have personal experience in, but certainly no degree of instructional expertise. This kind of ‘potty’ always seemed like less of a ‘party’ and more of a tumultuous adventure. It has been full of its ups, downs, soggy and (less often) dry moments, with a huge helping hand from Pull-Ups Training Pants.
SIDE NOTE: Right now, you can share your Big Kid’s moments on Instagram or Twitter using #DisneyAndPullUpsSweepstakes for a chance to win a vacation to Walt Disney World with your family. Who doesn’t love a vacation AND Disney?
I’ve become a father three times over since 2009 and teaching my kids to use the bathroom has always proved to be one of the most challenging elements of the parenting adventure. Poppin’ tops has a completely different meaning these days.
Potty training my oldest, Ava, was a blessing. Not because she picked up the concept almost instantaneously, but it took me out of my personal comfort zone and educated me on why it’s so important for girls to go ‘front to back’ and not the other way around. Up until this point, it hadn’t ever appeared on my radar. Make no mistake – it wasn’t a perfect transition to the potty… 
Like when your daughter has an accident on the floor in the deli section of your local grocery store while waiting for your weekly lunch meat. But these were rare occurrences. A few weeks into Pull-Ups and she was well on her way to being able to teach her younger brother the ropes.
In 2011, Charlie made his way into the world. We started off potty training slow and I began sitting him down on the toilet for both missions at hand. However, it wasn’t long before he wanted to follow in dad’s footsteps, stand up, take aim and fire at will.
Our biggest problem was that his targeting system wasn’t as finely tuned as mine. If you’ve ever seen a fireman lose control of his hose during a blaze, it closely resembled my son floundering about our guest bathroom, giving everything a thorough soaking. I’d read articles about creating targets to gain proficiency in his aim and quickly employed the use of cereal in the open waters of the porcelain bowl. With perseverance and dedication on both sides, we finally accomplished what we came here to do.
My biggest problem now, aside from this…
…is showing off his new found talents behind restaurants…
And once Charlie had it mastered, he was able to help me show Mason – who has been the quickest learner thus far!
He was excited to get started and even more excited to learn – plus he hasn’t managed to get the seat stuck around his neck yet – TOTAL BONUS. We used a ton of incentives, like sticker charts and when grandma came to town, she employed her method of using colored candy to get him more invested in the journey.
Now if I can only get them to separate the streams…
Potty training can certainly be challenging for parents and we’ve conquered it successfully with all three of my kids, and with Pull-Ups we even managed to make it fun. It’s an exciting time in each child’s development so I knew I wanted my kids to have fun with it rather than drag it out or make it feel boring for them. We still have an occasional accident and that’s perfectly normal.I’ll talk about that more in my next piece in my partnership with Pull-Ups!
Training pants like Pull-Ups rank among the most effective methods for potty training. They help us in teaching the basic skills – physical, cognitive and emotional – and they enable us and our kids to work together towards a common goal. There’s a reason they’ve been the #1 choice for over 25 years. They’re all about providing parents and kids with tips and advice to help make potty training easy and fun, plus lots of tools specifically designed to keep children engaged throughout the journey.
Pull-Ups Training Pants also have Disney character designs and stretchy sides that let kids put them on and take them off – just like big kid underwear.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Pull-Ups and their #Time2Potty campaign. For more information, check them out HERE, on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram! This post is sponsored by Pull-Ups.
This post is sponsored by Pull-Ups.
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