There is only one developmental stage that I dread…potty training. I wish there was a potty training academy. A school where we could drop off our potty trainer for the day and by the time you picked them up…whala!, they were potty trained. There is WAY too much self exploration for me during this time. They are so impressed with the function of their body parts and bowels. The good news is that every child does eventually graduate. Potty training is like crawling, learning to walk, and expressing language. Every child is not ready to train at the same time. It is so important to watch for the signs of readiness before starting the process of training. For all you new parents, ignore the shocked gasp from do gooder friends who are amazed that your 2 and a half year old is STILL not potty trained. Of course they will go into long renditions about how their child was potty trained at 12 months. (Im rolling my eyes). Honestly I too have felt the PTCT pressure. (potty training completion time) Lucky for me I have had 5 times to realize that there is no difference in intellectual advancement between my child who potty trained herself at 18 months or my turtle trainer who did not get his potty degree until 3. Once we realized our child was ready, we set out to find what bribing tool worked best. Some liked dancing cheerios, one liked it when we placed blue die in the potty and it magically turned green when they went pee. The favorite still has to be stickers along with family applause and celebration. None of them liked the potty corner, but it did serve its purpose for those “I know I should go potty in the toilet but I don’t feel like it right this minute” moments.