By Raakhee Mirchandani for Elle Magazine

It’s the mother of all scheduling conflicts. You head to work and while you're out hustling, your kid does something amazing. For the first time. Literally something they will never do again, in that same way, and you've missed it.

By Raakhee Mirchandani for Elle Magazine

A few months ago, a friend said she potty trained her daughter in a single weekend. I myself was a few weeks into the toilet training ordeal with my own toddler, bribing her with everything from chocolates and Elmo videos to a selection of fresh-out-the-box toys, including a massive plastic Doc McStuffins veterinary clinic that took my husband an hour to put together. I briefly considered giving her $100 per toilet turd.