Potty Training 101

So, changing gears here from the diet to discuss my daughter and her potty training, or lack there of. For some children, potty training is learned really quickly. Like my friend, her daughter was potty trained pretty quickly and wearing big girl underwear pretty soon after turning 2. My friend's daughter is only 2 months older than Mia so I thought for sure Mia wouldn't be far behind in the land of potty training. Boy was I wrong! And as a mother who has been taught time and time again that Mia will develop on her own time and when she's ready, I haven't stressed potty training all that much, until recently. Why the sudden change of heart? Because I've recently found out that Mia is pretty much potty trained at daycare, it's at home that she's not. My fault? Quite possibly. When a teacher at daycare handed me a "How to potty train your child" video, I realized that I needed to turn it up a notch. Or maybe a whole lot more.

Over the past 7-8 mos, Mia has sparked interest from time to time about using the big girl potty and as a proud mommy I think, oh yeah, she's getting it! But after about a week she's over it again and is perfectly happy wearing a heavy, droopy diaper. When we get home from daycare, I ask her about every 30 minutes if she needs to go potty, her reply, no. I've heard not to push potty training so I let it go and just ask her later. Always the same reply though. Wednesday night was probably the straw that broke the metaphorical camel's back.

So we get home late from church and Mia desperately needs a bath. He had pink spray paint in her hair from a party at daycare and it would be quite obvious that she didn't get a bath if she came to school the next day with pink hair. So every time she gets undressed, we ask her to use the potty. Sometimes she'll sit on there for a second and then jump off and get in her bathtub. That night she told her daddy "I don't have to potty." and proceeded to step into the tub. As she lifted her leg to step over, she peed all over her stool and bath mat. Mike was fuming! Please keep in mind that we started our detox plan on Wednesday and he was hungry and irritable or normally he probably wouldn't have gotten so mad. He didn't yell or anything, but I could sense the frustration oozing off of him. Why didn't she just sit on the potty? We have no idea. I recommend a show called "Toddler Whisper" for those of us who can't "train" our toddlers!

I tell my sister the next day about this lovely ordeal and she suggested having a treasure box where Mia can pick a prize if she actually goes pee pee or poo poo in the potty. I'd tried other things, but not this, so I proceeded to decorate a shoe box with princess wrapping paper and to really sparkle it up, I added puff paint and glitter! Last night I went to Wal-Mart and got a ton of goodies to put in the box (AKA Potty Treasure) and when I got home I filled the box to the top and put it in Mia's bathroom. I told Mia about the Treasure box and she immediately tried to go potty. She stared longingly at this "tacky" box while she tried to go tinkle and I was so excited because I thought, "yes, this is it, she loves getting prizes!" And then, being the sweet and honest little girl is, looked at me and said "No pee pee today."

Guess we'll keep on trying...she still doesn't know what is in the box so at least her curiosity is peaked! If the Potty Treasure doesn't work, I may be seeking more advice!

24 hours and counting

It's Monday morning...Monday mornings are always hard, but today is especially difficult. It could be due to the fact that I woke up at 1 AM by a storm and not being able to fall back to sleep until 4 AM or it could be that I haven't had solid food in over 24 hours, actually more since I quit eating Saturday night...so I'd say more like 32 hours of no food. It could be a mixture of both, but I am concerned because I can't really focus and I have a very busy week at work. A week that requires me to focus and not make mistakes. Well, I suppose every week should be that way, but ya catch my drift. I guess being busy might help in the no eating since I won't be bored and envisioning my keyboard as a steak or something.

The detox diet did state that there is some emotional release that can occur in addition to the physical detox during the fasting process. So far I think my emotions have been steady, but when I woke up last night, I could not get my mind to settle down. I usually can relax enough to fall back to sleep, but that was very challenging...obviously since it was 3 hours of tossing and turning! Technically 40 hours to go in the 3-day fasting process....yikes!

Signing off to get to work....still sipping tea!

Answer to last post....STARVING!

As I stated in my last blog, the first day of detox was yesterday. The instructions stated that to prepare myself for the fast, I must eat only veggies and fruit for an entire day and drink plenty of water. After day 1, I could begin my fast. Well, I woke up yesterday to pancakes...Mike's Saturday tradition. Yep...I ate 2 pancakes. Sadly I didn't feel guilty since I had 3 pancakes on my plate. So for the rest of the day I ate salads and fruit. I went to bed hungry DREADING the next day of zero food at all!

Also in the information/instructions, it stated that you should have a discussion with family members because they will sabotage you, sometimes unconsciously. So I had the talk with Mike about what I was doing and he agreed he'd do the detox regimen with me. I thought for sure he'd give me 100% support and I forgave him for making pancakes because they were expected by Mia. Then I wake up this morning and guess what is cooking in the oven? Biscuits! Nice warm biscuits on a Sunday morning...please keep in mind that we usually wake up late and have to hustle to get ready for church, but just so happen on the morning I begin my fast, Mike wakes up early and gets the urge to make biscuits. Oh yes, he got a glare!

So it's 7 AM and I'm hungry. I admit that I did have a cup of coffee. I can go without food for 72 hours but headaches throw me straight under the bus so in order to be able to function, I had to have coffee. But I only had one cup as opposed to the two I normally have. And yes, I'm fasting for 72 hours. The detox regimen said I could go 3-5 days. Yeah, if I can get the same effects on 3 days, then I'm not starving myself for 5 days. From Sunday to Wednesday morning I will only be drinking green tea with lime, lemon, and Organic Maple syrup and water. The directions say if I can sip on the drink every 15 minutes throughout the day I shouldn't get hungry. 12 hours later and I'm calling the person who wrote the instructions a liar. Also the directions state that I will need to go #1 frequently...yep, got that one right! I feel like I'm 9 months pregnant again with how often I'm making trips to the bathroom. At least I know the detox is working, right?

I'm thinking, and "thinking" being the key word, that today is probably the hardest of the 3 days. For one it's Sunday and Sundays are always full of good food! And today especially was difficult because we had mission team meeting tonight at a church member's home. There is ALWAYS delicious food and wonderful desserts. Staring at every one's plate like a mirage in a desert, I continued to sip on my hot tea and praying to God to help me through the hunger pains.

I won't say I've made it through the day until I actually go to sleep tonight, but today is my first official day that I've never eaten ANYTHING all day (other than the Lord's Supper at church). Yes, I've skipped meals and such, but even at my most pitiful days when I had stomach bugs or when a boyfriend dumped me, I've always had Cheez-Its to get me through! Oh wait, let's back up, I kinda lied. While making brownies today, I inadvertently licked my finger after pouring the brownie batter into the baking dish. Pure instinct! Oops...not starting over or adding a day for that slip. Other than that, no food at all. I've done pretty well but I'm pretty tired and had a couple of foggy/dizzy episodes but I've prayed through them and feeling as good as can be expected for someone who hasn't had food all day. And I'm pretty proud that I haven't snapped at my husband today. I think he is preparing himself for that to come on day 2 or 3...maybe both!

Detox Diet or Starving?

Well, today a thought occurred to me that I have been eating HORRIBLY for oh, let's say 5 years, but mostly recently the last few months. Some of the bad eating habits are part convenience, part lazy, and part that bad food is soooo good! A big cheeseburger, a stack of delicious pancakes on a Saturday morning or a Dairy Queen Blizzard as a special treat....so irresistible!

So, if one wants a lifestyle change in regard to food choices, where does one begin? For me, I need a clean slate! So, I talked to my chiropractor, who is also a friend of mine, and he suggested this detox that he sells at his office and prior users have seen dramatic results. More energy, body is more toned, better skin, more focused, the list goes on and on. In addition to the product, I also have to follow a relatively strict diet. No, it's not one of those "Lose 30 pounds in 10 days" type of detox. If you're curious, just Google "ClearVite-SF" for more information on what this detox does. This isn't about weight loss, though that would be a perk, it's about getting back to the basics! Decluttering my body so to speak. He told me to get online and find out the exact instructions and also read the booklet he provided me. I was so excited when I left his office, I thought come Monday that I'd jump right into this Detox program and be on my way to a healthier lifestyle...yeah, go figure, I was wrong. I pretty much have to detox before the detox. No pancakes for me tomorrow morning!

Knowing Mike and me, this is going to be relatively comical over the next month. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that Mike will be joining me in the detox plan. I don't think he should do the 3 day fasting with his type of job, so he'll begin at a later date. I know this blog is supposed to be about what's going on with Mia and such and I'll try to throw in some Mia stories, but I think having this blog while detoxing will help me hold myself accountable since I'm sharing this journey with others.

Tomorrow begins day 1. Fruits, veggies, and water only! Apparently you have to starve before you fast. Wish me luck!