My daughter has recently begun showing interest in potty training. She’s almost 3, and I wasn’t ever really pushing potty training on her. I’d sit her on a little potty just to see how she’d react and what she’d do, but she would usually just sit there, not going.

Every time I’ve gotten her to go recently, it’s been on the big potty. She says things like “peepee” and “potty.” It’s exciting that we’re starting this new journey. However, I know that we have a long road ahead of us, and it’s making me feel overwhelmed and unprepared.

This past weekend, she went to her dad’s. He worked more with her on potty training, and he said overall she did good. She went multiple times on the big potty. I went and bought some pull-ups and underwear, took a deep breath, and thought how bizarre it is this time has come.

Every milestone is exciting until you’re standing in it.

I remember wishing for the day we’d be done buying diapers. Now that it’s here, I’m realizing diapers weren’t just diapers. They were another reminder that she was still my little baby.

Potty training isn’t just learning to use the toilet. It’s another chapter quietly closing.

It’s weird how bittersweet this feels. You’d think I’d be so excited and ready to be done with diapers. For me, it’s a mix of thoughts and emotions.

“My baby’s not a baby anymore.”

How quickly it all went by.

Also, diapers are cheaper than pull-ups, and that can definitely play into the mix of feelings. Daycare makes you provide pull-ups, and mine was very specific about what kind. It sucks because now I feel in a rush to potty train, and that’s overwhelming too.

I will say, it’s a major relief having a supportive and very helpful partner through this. It can get tedious. My daughter will say she has to “peepee” just to sit on the potty for two seconds and say, “All done,” even though she doesn’t even go. Then she’ll do it multiple times over and over. Sometimes, when she really does have to go, she’ll be saying “peepee” right as she’s already going.

My boyfriend helps with cleanups from accidents, taking her to the potty, and getting her back in underwear, a diaper, or a pull-up. Honestly, I can’t begin to express how grateful I am for having him through this. On top of it all, he’s so patient and sweet with my daughter and me.

This past year, I’ve experienced the most judgment about potty training and the most pressure from others about it. I’ve had people tell me it doesn’t take long and that I just need to take an extended weekend off work to stay home and work on it with her. I’ve heard how it was so different “back in the day” and how my daughter should’ve been potty trained by 2. I even had my last ex-boyfriend telling me I needed to get her potty trained and comparing her to his son and how potty training went with him.

Then there are all the opinions.

Some swear by the three-day method.

Some say kids should be trained before two.

Some insist pull-ups ruin everything.

Some think rewards are wrong.

Some think rewards are necessary.

And somehow moms are expected to sort through all of it while raising an actual human being.

I’d be lying if I said those comments never got under my skin. But deep down, I kept believing she’d let me know when she was ready.

People also told me she’d choose when she was ready and that there would be signs.

I believed my daughter would show me those signs in her own time.

And she has.

Maybe she’ll be potty trained in a few weeks.

Maybe it’ll take a few months.

Maybe we’ll have accidents, setbacks, and days where I wonder if we’re getting anywhere at all.

But motherhood has taught me something over and over again.

Our children aren’t on anyone else’s timeline.

They don’t grow because someone on Facebook says they should.

They don’t reach milestones because another child did.

They grow when they’re ready.

And maybe… that’s exactly how it was always supposed to be.