If you opened this hoping for tips on potty training, you might as well hit the X in the corner of your screen and run, because this mama has NO IDEA.
Ok, ok ~ that might not be entirely true but it is comical, at least to me because I have decided in potty training if I don't laugh I might cry! If you have ever potty trained a child you might be able to relate to this post. I never thought my life could revolve around the toilet so much. Going number 1 (aka yellow to Lincoln) was a task, but with the help of my mom when she would visit, friends with little ones, working at home, seeing peers at preschool going, etc ... he finally has that down and it felt like a huge success and still does! Big boy underwear are fun, he feels accomplished, he even cheers for me when I go potty! I never thought I'd be sharing these moments but they actually give me the giggles. Listening to a toddler say "yahhhhh mommy went yellow" is nothing less than hysterical to a 32 year old woman. However, he is only mimicking what he has heard for months of us encouraging him -- and if that is what it takes for him to go on his own, stay dry and get rid of pull-ups than cheer as loud and as much as you want little one!
With every success in life, comes some type of set back or failure. Number 2 (aka ucky to Lincoln) is a totally different story. I never thought I'd talk about poop so much with anyone, let alone my son, other moms and anyone who may understand what we are going thru. I feel like moms either say their little ones just got it right away, or number 2 came months after being pee trained. A few weeks ago I thought I would never survive this part of having a toddler. He knew better than to poop his pants, so he took his underwear off and went on the floor. Now living in Arizona we have tons of tile, had it been on the tile, I might have been a little less disgusted, but of course it wasn't. After cleaning the carpet multiple times I had a new resolve to entice him. I had tried positive reinforcement of taking him to ride a pony, explaining why we potty in the toilet, telling him daddy does it and other people he admires -- none of which was working. Next I bought a box of 12 cars - Cars Theme - and told him every time he goes poop in the toilet he could have two. Still wasn't working. Then one day he did, and then he went again two more times, and smugly to myself I thought BOOM, we've got this! That only lasted a few days ... ha ha!
I paid up on his promised pony ride that he didn't let me forget, and he has a handful of cars that he reminds me of each time he goes on the toilet ... yet we are still having accidents and failure. While they are less and less, we are daily working on being a complete big boy and are looking forward to saying goodbye to pull-ups for good! If you are in the potty training process, be patient. While some kids don't get it as fast as we would like them too, I know in another month or so, this too shall pass!