When it came time to start potty training my son, I think I just about broke all the rules. In my neighborhood, there's pressure to potty train your child early because some of the fancier preschools will not accept children who are still in diapers. But there's also a kind of arms race among parents, a bit of playground competition, like every other child development milestone.

Well, potty training is not a competition. And all the rules are completely useless. Ideal age? Using the right pull-ups? Scheduled potty-sitting time? Forget it. I think you need to be a potty training renegade to get the job done. For me and my son, it was all about waiting until he was ready, watching his signals, and letting him figure it out himself.

"MOMMMMMMMM!"

It never fails. Just when I've prepared a meal for myself and I'm sitting down to enjoy five minutes of peace, the call echoes down the hallway.

"MOmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Can you come wipe my butt?"

I enter the bathroom and there he is, my 3-year-old. He is pantsless and has arranged himself in the Sort-of-Amusing, Sort-of-Gross Position of His Own Invention: hands planted firmly on the ground, tiny naked rear end pointed straight up in the air. It is now my job to deal with his wee butthole, and any detritus that may have accumulated there.

Suddenly, my turkey sandwich with mustard isn't sounding so appealing.

My daughter always seems to need new pajamas. Growth spurts, weather changes, what have you, I'm constantly searching for pjs for my (almost) 4-year-old.

I was on a few websites (they rhyme with "slap" and "bold wavy") and saw all of those adorable footie pjs. You know, the all-in-one kind, with the zipper up the front, little feet on the bottom. Don't get a much cuter sight than your little one in footie pjs padding out of her room on Saturday mornings, huh?

I spied one with cats on it. Kiddo loves cats. It was yellow. Kiddo's favorite color is yellow. And the cats had princess crowns.

Yellow princess kitty pjs. She would LOVE these pajamas. I would have to buy seven pairs so she could wear them every night. And they offered it up to size 5.

But I didn't buy them.

Damn that potty training (imagine me waving my fist in the air to get the full effect).

We’re still in diapers and, admittedly, I haven’t put much time, thought, or effort into potty training my 22-month-old. So maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about here, but seriously ... isn’t it just a bit uncouth to lean your recently potty-trained toddler over curbs, shrubbery, and boutique shoe stores to pee? Yes, public peeing.

They’re toddlers, not street vagrants or dogs. What’s with this public urination trend that’s taking over my city? I’ve even seen some parents cradling their kids’ butts in such a way that they can poop in public!

Keeping your kids in training pants has one major disadvantage Mom and Dad: They're still not "feeling" the accidents.

Sure it will keep your couch dry, but many parents find they're throwing good money after bad.

Want a real incentive to make them run to the potty when it's time to go?

The green movement has made the hand-me-down hip again.

Sometimes, I'm glad to be uncool.

Because the third time is the charm for a pair of shorts, but not the kids' potty.

The first act of potty training: getting the potty.

So The Stir checked in with Olivia, a mom who just started potty training her almost-2-year-old in anticipation of a little brother's arrival, to share her first experiences on the job for moms who aren't quite there yet. 

The potty-training journey sometimes feels lonely -- the friends who crowded around to cuddle your newborn aren't volunteering to clean up accidents on the bathroom floor.

So The Stir is making it easier with a little help from a potty-training mom Jane (not her real name), who's working up 3-year-old son Sam (not his either) for the days when he'll be diaper-free.

We last heard what the first week was like, but what's it like one month later?