The Potty Chronicles

Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone!! I hope you're enjoying these last few days of Summer.

School starts for us on Tuesday and the boy and the girl head in on Friday. I don't want to jinx it but there's a very good chance that my eldest child, the boy, might be heading into school in big boy underpants!!

Allow me to regale you with the events of my weekend thus far.

Yesterday we began our Labor Day weekend with a shopping trip for bribes. We picked up some candy. We picked up a GIANT coloring book and a brand new box of Crayola crayons. We grabbed a few Backyardigans books and of course a Handy Manny coloring book. Oh, and we must not forget the Diego water color book that has been our potty toy.

We had some lunch with the grandparents and then they took the girl and I took the boy. The only way this was going to get done was if my youngest child was not with me. It's very hard to get the boy on the potty when she's telling me she has to go potty. She also lets me know when she's poopy. She's right 60% of the time.

The boy passed out cold on the way home and proceeded to stay asleep for another 90 minutes!! I was in SHOCK!!

When he awoke the training began. We went right to the potty and he did what he does best- Pee. SUPER!

From then on until bedtime we were on the potty every 15 to 20 minutes. Let me tell you when you're getting up to go to the potty every 20 minutes, the evening goes FAST!

Because we're crazy we're also using this weekend to break the boy of joining us in bed. While we understand that he is still having nightmares, they are lessening and now he just enjoys sharing our bed. So, the gate gets closed on his door. The past two nights I've spent part of the evening on his floor. Not so comfy.

This Labor Day weekend certainly is not shaping up the way I thought it would!

Our big push has been pooping on the potty. That did not happen yesterday. BUT neither did pooping in the diaper/pull-up. I claim that as a tiny victory.

This morning I woke up to poop in the diaper but no pee. Also a teeny tiny victory. Since being awake we've used the potty half a dozen times and no pee in the pull up.

The best though?

The husband and I decided that we'd take the boy out for dinner tonight if we had a good day today potty training. We have a place by us that serves their kid's meal in a car. It's cute. The boy LOVES it. So, we decided we'd take him there. The boy is sitting on the potty and says that he wants to go to grandpa's restaurant. Out of the blue. JACKPOT! We chatted and I said we could go there tonight and see grandpa and the boy's uncle if he did really great on the potty today. No peeps or poops in his diaper. And going on the potty. He was excited and then informed me that his diaper was like the potty though because you're supposed to go in your diaper.

Genius. I feel so much better "forcing" this training on him after hearing that. He gets it. It's time.

So, right now my child is sitting on our living room floor on two towels, watching Disney and wearing Diego Big Boy Underpants. I don't want to jinx it. I don't want to get too excited because I know there will be accidents. But we're doing pretty good. I've been plying him with yogurt and juice boxes all morning to make sure he's got something to do when he approaches the throne.

Hopefully, this is working. Hopefully, we'll be abandoning pull ups and diapers sooner rather than later. Hopefully, this Labor Day weekend will be one to remember for a really long time.

Thank you to everyone who commented and emailed with tips. I appreciate it. I have to say everywhere I went if someone found out we were getting ready to train they had something to share. And I can't tell you how many people shared that they had kids older than mine who potty trained late!

This wasn't the most exciting post. It wasn't heart wrenching or exciting or even that funny, but it's part of the daily grind. It's part of being a mom. It's part of having kids. It's part of why I want to rip my hair out occasionally. It's part of life.

Speaking of hair....I think I may use this single child weekend to dye mine!! (Totally off topic....)