Potty-training Ariel

The time has come for me to really get down to potty-training Ariel. She is now 2.5 years old. Apart from being constantly nagged at, I feel that it's really time that I stopped giving myself excuses, even though I really have no clue at all, how to go about potty-training a child.

The strategy we used:
1. Get a potty and cheap underpants
2. Read her a book about potty-training.
3. Get her the rewards: stickers + marbles and bottle (each time she is successful, we will drop a marble into the bottle)
4. We even poured water while she is seated on the potty, to give her an idea about passing urine into a potty.

However, strategy is one thing, the actual potty-training is not at all easy. During the one week that we did away with diapers, Ariel had zero success at all. Each time she misses, I will heave a huge sigh to myself, although outwardly, I will smile and says, "It's alright, next time we go potty ok?" During that week, i have also contracted mastitis (breast infection) and almost wanted to give up on this.

Thanks to my helper's encouragement, we persevered. After one week, Ariel finally had one success and subsequent 2-3 successes.

Potty-training is like a 'walkabout' Ariel and I had to go through.As a parent, I realize that as my child grows, she could be making the same mistakes again and again. Will we be able to accept this fact, and still be patient with her no matter how many times she make the same mistakes?

While going toilet is like 2nd nature to us, it is a big thing for a child. I remember there was once when Ariel actually said, "sorry, mommie" after she had an 'accident'. It broke my heart at that time, and part of me wanted to give her diapers, to take the stress and pressure away from her. I wanted to protect my child from disappointments.

Fortunately, I didn't because at the one time she had success, I could see Ariel beaming with pride. As the number of marbles in her bottle increase, I know Ariel gets more confident with it. Perhaps she is now beginning to understand that there are certain things in life whereby only she alone could accomplish...