Ah, wine. It’s wonderful, isn’t it? Honestly, I don’t think I could survive being a parent without it. Today, day two of our attempt to potty train in 72 hours, was another doozy.

We started the day off in fine form with a sleep in – I figured this was promising for a mood conducive to potty training. Missy quite happily paraded around the house in just knickers for hours on end, without going to the potty. Oh, she would sit on it, she would talk about it, she would tell me that she doesn’t wear nappies, but she would not pee.

Related: The first day of potty training

So it was that again I put her down for an afternoon nap, only to have her screech at me because she immediately filled her nappy with pee. Once changed and back in bed, I was summoned once more to take care of the number two. Yup, she stored it all up for bed time.

I took a breath and decided to reset in the afternoon. I was in a good mood in the afternoon, and happily did yoga with her (or her version, which is basically just rolling around on the ground a few times), and had a laugh. However, after one cup of water and a cup of milk I thought it was time to get serious. Some intense potty time ensued, with me breaking my parenting rules and letting her watch half an hour (OK, an hour, I’m a horrible person) of television. It did not work.

At 4.30 this afternoon, she crossed her legs like she couldn’t hold it any further, and I witnessed a couple of dribbles hit the floorboards. I promptly put the potty under her and she screamed. Then, I gave up my only bargaining chip. You see, this whole time we have been telling missy that she can have an ice cream if she did a poo. Then, when she wouldn’t pee, we downgraded it to a pee. And now, here I was, a dribble on the floor, giving her an ice cream in the hope that she would pee on the potty while eating it. She didn’t. And she had the nerve to ask me for more when she was done!

So, 6pm came and went. Dinner was eaten. The day was done. I was already texting a girlfriend for reassurance of quitting this thing a day early. After all, what’s the point in putting myself through another day of it? Then, miracle of miracles. She peed!  A nice, big yellow wee in the potty before bathtime. Well, you would’ve thought we had won tattlsotto. Mummy and Daddy jumped around, stickers abound, cuddles galore. Of course, five minutes later she peed in the shower, but I’m taking the win where I can.

So it is that we have decided to continue. One pee might be the start of many, and we only have 24 hours to go until we have fulfilled our mission. If it doesn’t work, at least we can say we tried. The fact that she didn’t want a nappy on tonight for bed has to be a good sign, right? In the meantime, wine … wine is good.

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