Mandy Moore on potty training: it’s not an event it’s a process

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I’ve been a Mandy Moore fan since her first album. I liked that she seemed lowkey and I’ve always rooted for her and her career. I saw A Walk to Remember with my high school best friend on my birthday and loved that soundtrack. Mandy’s been through a lot, but it seems like she’s really happy and in a great place now. She has two adorable boys named Gus, two, and Ozzie, nine months, with her husband, musician Taylor Goldsmith. In a recent interview, Mandy talked about how she and Taylor have their hands full raising their two boys.

Raising two toddlers is definitely a walk Mandy Moore will remember fondly.

However, the This Is Us alum—who shares sons August “Gus” Harrison, 2, and Oscar “Ozzie” Bennett, 9 months, with husband Taylor Goldsmith—isn’t afraid to admit that wrangling two young boys can be a handful.

“Somedays I feel like we’re barely above water,” Moore exclusively told E! News on the July 25 episode. “The potty training is intense, but we’re slowly but surely getting there. I love that someone told me, ‘It’s not an event, it’s a process.'”

And it’s one the 39-year-old makes sure to savor, despite the challenges of parenting.
“My husband and I were saying the other night we’re gonna look back fondly and be like, ‘Remember when he didn’t pee in the potty?!'” she continued. “So, I’m trying to be present and really appreciate all this time we have together now.”

[From EOnline]

Oh, Mandy, I feel ya, girl! Potty training was a process with my older son. A very long, frustrating process that took almost two years. He had the overnights down pretty early on, but still struggled during the day. We tried everything from incentives and rewards charts to having him go pantsless at home to having him sit on a little potty in front of the TV. We must have watched or played the Daniel Tiger potty song a gazillion times. But, of course, every child is different and does things on their own timetable. Gus will get there, Mandy! And trust me, there will be many things you look back fondly on from those early years, but the pre-potty trained times probably won’t be one of them.

Also, for what it’s worth, my younger son has always been determined to keep up with everyone around him and basically daytime potty trained himself at age two, while we were home during the pandemic. He saw his older brother use the potty, decided he was going to use it as well, and never looked back. It was an event that we didn’t even plan for. I’ll cross my fingers for Mandy and Taylor that Ozzie’s potty training experience is also more of an event than a process!

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9 Responses to “Mandy Moore on potty training: it’s not an event it’s a process”

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  1. Lala11_7 says:

    Oh….THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE ❤️ AND SEEM LIKE THEY ADORE EACH OTHER☺️. May they ALWAYS have THAT BOND❣️

  2. FHMom says:

    I never started potty training until my kids turned three. I knew they weren’t ready and figured they’d be more successful if I waited a year. Also, the only thing worse then potty training is teaching them to drive. Potty training may make a frustrated mom cry, but it won’t fill her with fear.

  3. Kittenmom says:

    Those children are insanely cute. I love the picture of the babies in the crib along with the cat 😹 trying to compete for mom & dad’s attention. Her husband seems like an incredible hands-on dad. Mandy is one lucky mom!

  4. Mle428 says:

    My son refused to potty train and he’d say, “No! You change my diaper.” He has always been really big for his age, and we started to worry that he’d outgrow the last size of diaper before he was potty trained.

    My husband texted me one day, “This is like changing a grown man’s diaper.” I also joked we were going to need to buy depends and that he’ll meet a nice partner some day who didn’t care that he wasn’t potty trained.

    Then, one day, when he was 3 1/2, he was just done. He said, “Take my diaper off and put my underwear on. I’m going to use the potty.” He was fully potty trained from that moment on, even at night he wasn’t having accidents. It was so weird. After all the promises of treats, and toys, and him just thumbing his nose at all of it. LOL

    • Shawna says:

      My kid was like that. It’s totally about control. He was potty-trained at daycare but refused to be at home. I finally had him select an arbitrary date on the calendar to be potty-trained at home. He chose a date six months in advance, but we kept reminding him, and when the day came, he held up his end of the deal. Kind of weird!

  5. Ameerah M says:

    Such cute bubbas!

  6. Shawna says:

    Hard same! Growing up with those charts and scrapbooks of milestones that your parents would fill out, I assumed it would be like: One day my kids just starts to sit. And another day, he starts to stand! Then he just walks one day. And then he’s potty-trained. Totally didn’t realize how intensive it all is and how partial all progress is!

  7. Lisa Ann Roberts says:

    Pro-tip to any new moms on potty training – let daycare do it. When they move them to the 3-yr old room – if they haven’t been trained yet you are told to send multiple pairs of underwear and clothes and let them handle it. They line them up and have them all go 6 times a day and it’s done in less than two weeks. The combination of peer pressure and frequency fix it quickly. I defy anyone to do that with their child at home that quickly. I hate to say it – but “pull-ups” are the worst enemy of potty training. The kid needs to feel wet in order to want that to change. That said – we would still put them on our kid if we were traveling / on a plane – but it wasn’t needed after daycare worked their magic.

  8. Fina says:

    Her kids are super cute no question. As exhausted mother of a two year old I really have no idea how she deals with a 9 months old in addition. I guess money for nannies, cleaning personnel, etc helps a bit. But still. Puh. As cute as her kids are though, I really don’t think in todays day and age it is wise to post photos of your kids publicly. Among your friends etc sure but the entire world? It’s not wise. The internet does not forget and maybe one day little Gus does not want that his boss can see pictures of him in a diaper. And that is a mild consequence. There is scary stories what these pictures can be used for. Fake passports etc and worse