Skip to main content

Adventures in potty training

There is nothing about potty training that is not deeply in the frenzy. I wish that I could write a post of all the secret tricks to make potty training ridiculously easy. I'd definitely share that information if I had anything like it. All I can tell you is how incredibly unsuccessful we were. Not for lack of trying different things. We tried. We failed.

I already talked about how we got to the point of giving up on cloth diapers. But even when you have disposable diapers you still need to use a mountain of wet wipes to try to remove the excess material left stuck to your little angel that is sweetly smiling at you saying "I pooped in my diaper". Your heart sinks knowing all to well the task that awaits. It's not the first time they sweetly smile at you and utter that phrase. You're excited the first time. You feel like this is a sign of progress. Something to indicate the end is nigh. No, it's the 10,000th time... That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it feels that way.

You start gently, suggesting that you may want to try using the potty. Then you start to get a bit more desperate. We went to bribery fast. Giving candy, control of the TV, YouTube videos, etc. all for a few drops of pee in the potty. This is a missed opportunity for children. If toddlers had any idea of the amazing negotiating position that they occupied. They could get thousands of dollars, a puppy, a pony, pretty much anything they want... All they have to do is promise they will poop in the potty.

We were getting close to desperate. We decided we just needed to set a weekend aside and go with the switch to underwear. But that's an intimidating thought. Dealing with pull-ups is one thing. But washing clothing covered in poop is just not appealing. You do it on occasion. You have to. But thinking about a staggering sequence of poop covered clothing is intimidating for any parent.

So as we were waiting to start this terrible process, it just happened. We had stopped everything. We were resigned to our fate. It just didn't matter. They did it on their own time. And in saying that I'm giving the same false sense of some sort of control. Your child may do it on their own time. Or they may not. You may be trying 15 different things and then one day it clicks. Was it the special stickers on the poo chart? Or was that just what you were trying when your child decided they had enough of mommy and daddy trying to negotiate? You'll never know. But I at least suspect, it wasn't one thing, it was everything and nothing. We may have helped emphasize the concept of using the potty, but in the end they find the time that works for them.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Instant Pot yogurt - failure and success

Here in the frenzy, we sometimes learn from failure. And sometimes I just make a slightly different mistake on the second attempt. So I previously discussed that I ended up making two changes to my yogurt routine at once, and thus was unable to isolate which was the cause of failure. I decided to avoid too much of a blow-by-blow by doing two more rounds of yogurt so I could actually post something that has a chance of being useful. To recap a bit, I got this heritage yogurt starter: The package comes with two packets of dried granules that look like the bread yeast packets that you put in the freezer. I followed the included instructions to heat the milk, cool it to 110 degrees Fahrenheit and then add the packet. If you read carefully, it also comes with the disclaimer that this may not produce a firm yogurt the first time around but that the second time you use a starter to make yogurt the bacteria would become substantial enough to make yogurt. I decided to hedge my be
Read more

Instant Pot as an alternative to a rice maker?

Here in the frenzy, we love using rice. There is nothing that makes a meal like putting rice under and combination of random ingredients from the fridge. (Let's see... blue cheese... watermelon... tuna fish... over rice. Got dinner!) So we have a dedicated rice maker that we've used for several years. But is that the best way to supply our rice for those quick and easy meals? Since we joined the cult of Instant Pot, we've been exploring it's functionality. Since one of the 10 functions is making rice, we pulled it out and made some rice. It worked just fine. I'm not a rice aficionado, so if you can wax poetic about the perfectly prepared rice for hours then YMMV , but to me I had perfectly acceptable white rice out of the Instant Pot. Saving kitchen space I like the Instant Pot's flexibility. I decided to buy an Instant Pot rather than buying a dedicated yogurt maker . But now that I've already purchase the thing, I might as well work out al
Read more

We didn't buy a diamond ring and it wasn't about saving money

Early before the coalescence of the frenzy, we had started to form our family values. One of our now well-established family values is that we try to minimize harm caused by what we buy. We don't always succeed but there is one thing we avoided from the very beginning because of the incredible damage it has done around the globe. Buying a diamond ring. This was particularly my hang up perhaps caused by Leonardo DiCaprio's attempt at a South African accent . I would not spend money on a diamond ring. But I also didn't want to seem cheap to my soon to be bride, which was entirely in my head and had nothing to do with what she thought of me. So I started the delicate dance of figuring out if we were in the 100 percent getting married camp while bringing up my ethical dilemma. Luckily, I was not left wanting for clues on this one. It was made very clear that we were indeed in camp and that we should get started on pitching the tent before midnight. I got lucky bec
Read more