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Potty training is big news on the Lilypad at the moment and whilst toilet habits are not usually the focus of our blog posts, when we were told this week about about World Toilet Day and how 40% of the population don't have access to a toilet, we wanted to get a little more involved.

Firstly, I cannot imagine not having access to a toilet. It seems ludicrous. To be honest, I am sure my children think that access maybe revoked at any time as you can guarantee the minute I go into the bathroom, one of them will need the toilet. Mums are not allowed to go to the bathroom alone. (Someone should write that into the expectant parents handbook).

Although, I suppose it is a fair assumption because through our potty training adventure, the little one is never allowed to go to the toilet alone.

There is always celebration and there is always an audience.

Despite those celebrations, there is the occasional mishap too and unfortunately for the Man on the Pad, it was on his watch! I was taking my eldest daughter out to gymnastics and he was relaxing at home with the little one, unfortunately she was relaxing a little too much and "forgot" to go to the toilet. She moved on the sofa (I am so grateful for the leather sofa) and my other half wondered where the melted chocolate had come from ...... now we all know that it wasn't melted chocolate! He has no sense of smell, so thank goodness he realised before he went to taste it! <<shudder>>

This post is part of the World Toilet Day promotion and I am part of the #Blog4Sanitation movement setup by Splashdirect to raise awareness of the importance of global sanitation. Learn more about World Toilet Day here

World Toilet Day - An infographic bought to you by the team at Splashdirect

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I remember as a child my mum saying “if you eat carrots you will see in the dark” and another favourite was “if you eat your crusts, you will have curly hair”. Now I have worn glasses since the age of 9 so there is as much chance of me seeing in the light or dark as there is knitting fog and given the fact that my brother had no hair by his late twenties, let alone curly hair, it kind of blows these parenting theories out of the window.

I had to laugh at this video created by CANparent, who are a new Government (DfE) initiative aimed at providing high quality parenting classes to support the parenting skills of both mothers and fathers. The video even mentions the carrots ….. they must have spoken to my mum!!

As a parent myself, I now know that mums and dads will do almost anything to convince a child to “eat their greens” or other such good things but parenting myths have a tendency to become folklore through the generations.

Parents love to categorise and one of the most renowned myths is “The Terrible Twos”.  The "twos" -- or more accurately, a period in time that falls somewhere between 18 and 30 months of age -- are terrible only if you're unprepared (speaks she who is riding the wave of a determined two year old). 

Now anyone who has had a 2 year old will find that sometime during that 12 months period, it's almost certain that your beautiful pleasant mild mannered baby will be replaced by a stubborn, argumentative and tantrum-prone toddler. Familiar anyone? I was having a chat with some fellow mums only yesterday and the general consensus was that toddlers are essentially little people and they are just learning to exert their personality. 

We have found that praising often works wonders, like  “You did a wee wee on the potty! Well done!” (followed by clapping and some dancing) But when a tantrum erupts, it seems the best thing to do is ignore her, as long as she isn't hurting anyone. Shouting or similar attempts to subdue—even with affection— can sometimes make tantrums last longer. (trust me, I know). 

So are the terrible two’s a myth? In my opinion, there's no denying it, 2-year-olds are totally cute! Their curiosity about the world is infectious and as parents it is our responsibility to encourage their character, not crush their personality. Trying to get a toddler to conform is the only terrible thing about it! 

For more information about CANparent and expert parenting advice visit and “Like” the CANparent Facebook page.

What are your favourite parenting myths? 

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When asking my youngest daughter to do something over and over again, I began to tire of the relentless "why" and resorted to one of my mum's favourite sayings "because I said so". It was out of my mouth before I realised. What had I done? Had I morphed into my mother? Or just become "a mother".

There seems to be a generic list of things that mothers all say to their children, despite swearing when we were younger, that we would NEVER utter those words.

Here are my top ten things that I swore I would never say:

1. "Because I said so". (There is simply no answer to this one). 

2. "If you keep pulling that face, it will stick like that" (I truly believed this would happen.)

3. "Don't you make me pull this car over...." (incredibly effective for no apparent reason)

4.  "There are starving children all over the world who would gladly eat your dinner!" (unfortunately my smarty pants daughter suggested we should send it to them!!)

5. "Just WAIT till your Dad gets home!" (because his word is clearly more effective than mine!)

6. "If so and so jumped off a bridge would you jump off a bridge?" (the answer to this is obviously No!)

7. "Money doesn't grow on trees you know" (this was one of my mums particular favourites)

8. "Do as I say, not as I do" (especially prevalent when talking about the use of make up and mobile phones!)

9. "If you don't stop crying, I will give you something to cry about". (the possible threat of losing one of their favourite toys is enough to stop unecessary wailing but when did I turn into "the confiscator mum"?)

10. "One day you'll thank me" (although, I will probably have to wait till the girls have children for this to actually happen).

Did you nod your way through the list?

What would you add?

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I know it is only the start of November and a Christmas wish list may sound a little presumptuous but let me tell you why. The last week has been a merry go round of illness. The littlest member of the Lilypad family has been poorly and once again sleep deprivation has hit. I can never fathom the saying "sleep like a baby", as babies rarely sleep soundly, especially when they are in your bed resembling something akin to a starfish.

So my Christmas Wish List is very simple (albeit a little predictable) but all I wish for is a Silent Night ....

Unfortunately, this may mean a bigger bed and I have been stalking the internet looking at things to add to my wish list. My mood board from TJ Hughes is a work in progress, especially as I am always changing my mind but I love that we could all snuggle up in this bed on a weekend morning and let the children watch their shows while I grab an extra 5 mins *cough*, I mean read the morning papers.

I always say that you can cope with anything if you have had sleep ...... I just need to rid our house of this horrid bug and remind my girls that their own beds are just as nice as ours! Or maybe I should just get some children's bunk bed's so that they can sleep together!

Do your little ones want to sleep with you when they are poorly?

Disclosure : This featured post is brought to you in association with T J Hughes. All moans about sleep deprivation are our own!