Ventures into Potty Training

Being potty trained is one of the major milestones for a toddler. Unlike my typical mode of operation, I had not read-up or prepared for Scarlett's first potty-training attempt. 2 1/2 weeks ago, Scarlett's daycare providers informed me that Scarlett might be ready for potty-training so they would like to try. It's been in the back of my mind for a while but I've been putting it off and also rationalizing it by thinking that she's not ready yet. She's had her own potty for many months now but she has yet to successfully "go" in it. Without doing that, I figured that she wouldn't be able to make the connection between "Mother Nature" calling and using the potty. So the daycare provider's suggestion took me by surprise but I thought we'd give it a try.
So I went to Target and bought her 3 packs of underwear. On her first day of potty-training, I packed her daycare bag with extra shoes, extra pants, and 4 pairs of underwear. How did it go? Well, at the end of the day, they informed me that she did well but had a few accidents. Well, that's normal. So we went home and I had Scarlett use her potty multiple times to minimize the chance of accidents. Not once did she "go" in it. After dinner, she went out to the backyard to play and ended up having 2 accidents. In addition, when bathtime came, she completely freaked out and would not leave her potty to go and take her bath. My husband thought that it might have been because she was too traumatized from potty-training. I disagreed but we ultimately decided that she wasn't ready. So the next day, I told her daycare providers that she's not ready and we should try again in the future.
Well, two weeks went by and this past Sunday morning, Scarlett woke up to a completely dry diaper! She's never done that - in fact, her diaper frequently overflows from overcapacity. So I thought maybe she can try potty-training again, especially if she's gaining bladder control. I took her to her potty and she went! I was so excited that I decided to put her underwear on instead of her diapers. My husband thought I was crazy because he didn't think she's ready yet. Well, the day went fairly well. She successfully used her potty a few times on Sunday but also had a couple of accidents, which wasn't bad at all. Unfortunately, we had the same struggle at bathtime: She cried and screamed when it was bathtime. Being the bad controlling mother that I am, I forced her to take a bath (because I didn't want her to go to bed without one since she had peed on herself a few times that day). It was very unpleasant. I didn't feel good about myself for doing it and my husband and I strongly disagreed about her readiness for potty-training.
Well, it's officially been 4 days into her 2nd potty-training attempt and how are we doing now? Pretty good, I would say! She's half-potty-trained now (says I, her proud mother): she's able to successfully use the potty most of the day with a few accidents (and of course diapers overnight). And the bath trauma? Luckily, the last 2 nights have been drama-free. (Knock on wood!) Aside from the constant fear of her having an accident, I'm very optimistic!
Lesson learned? Be on the same page with one's spouse before taking on this endeavor! Also, I've always bought into the belief that if a kid is ready for potty training, it will only take 2 days. If they are not ready, it will take months. Well, I've come to realize that it's really not the norm to potty-train in 2 days. Yes, people do it, but I've oome to believe that it can take a week or two, and that taking more than 2 days does not mean that the kid is not ready for potty-training.