Toddler Triumphs and Prehistoric Potty Training with Alycia Pace

Host Christopher Robbins interviews Alicia Pace, author of the children's board book "How to Potty Train a Dinosaur," exploring how humor and creative perspective-shifting can transform the often-stressful potty training milestone into a joyful family experience. Pace shares her personal journey of discovering that relinquishing control and letting children take the "teacher" role—rather than being taught—dramatically reduces resistance and increases engagement. The conversation emphasizes that there is no single "right way" to potty train, and that parents must release perfectionism, embrace accidents as learning opportunities, and find humor in the messy process to maintain their own wellbeing and strengthen family bonds. Episode Highlights 00:02:15: Alicia explains how using a stuffed animal as the "student" flipped the dynamic, allowing her daughter to become the teacher and regain excitement about potty training. 00:03:45: Discussion of why dinosaurs were chosen for the book—their size juxtaposition with the small task creates humor while capitalizing on children's natural interest in dinosaurs. 00:05:20: Alicia reveals her initial attempt to follow a rigid system based on her sister-in-law's success, and how that pressure quickly crumbled, forcing her to rebuild with lower expectations. 00:07:30: The importance of finding humor in accidents—including embarrassing situations in other people's homes—as a survival mechanism for parents during potty training. 00:09:15: Alicia articulates the deeper purpose of her book: creating moments of connection, entertainment, and shared humor between parent and child rather than focusing solely on the functional outcome. Key Takeaways Shift the power dynamic by letting your child become the teacher rather than the student; this simple perspective change can dissolve resistance and reignite enthusiasm. Release the myth that your child's potty training success reflects your worth as a parent; accidents are developmentally normal and not a reflection of intelligence, goodness, or parenting quality. Prioritize connection and joy over perfection; reading together, giggling, and finding humor in the journey creates lasting positive associations and strengthens your relationship. Abandon one-size-fits-all methods; every child is different, and the most effective approach is the one that works for your unique family while maintaining your sanity and sense of humor. Quotable Moments "Whatever gets you through the night or the day is all right. Every child is different." — Christopher Robbins "There's only so much that we can control. And so, yeah, the surrender, the surrender that I had to learn as a potty training parent cleaning up urine from carpets of other people's homes when we would go out, that was a bit of an embarrassing one." — Alicia Pace "The goal there being to bring the family together, to unite in this... we might be getting one small step closer to what I need, which is to get out of diapers here. And the child being entertained and having a fun time with a parent, giggling with a parent." — Alicia Pace