the potty wars

A few weeks ago, while minding our own business, doing a little shopping at Walmart, Tate randomly shares, "Momma, I need to go potty!" Dan and I looked at each other, and say, "really?"(We'd only been casually sitting him on it up to this point.)  "Let's go!"  He held it all the way to the bathroom and proceeded to take care of his business!

Just like any normal, sane parents, we decided, "Our child is brilliant so therefore he must be ready to train!"  So we kinda jumped on the "potty" wagon shall we say.  We bought M&Ms, we bought suckers, we bought things for a sticker chart, and a few Thomas die-cast engines (in the $5.99 range) that Tate especially likes and set up our own system. Here's what ensued.  "NOOOOOOO, I don't wanna go potty!"  "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" "I can't go Momma!!!" "It's not working!" (referring to his ability to pee.)  Wow.  Talk about the brakes being applied.

Then...he decided that the prizes and such were quite a bit of fun, and tasty.  So he inconsistently started complying with our requests on the toilet.  Pee came quite easily. He was totally getting it, but well, the other..."big business" as a German friend of mine used to say, was a little more difficult.  That's why we awarded him the illustrious "Smartie" sucker.  He LOVES them.  Takes a while to eat them so the love just keeps on going for a while, giving mommy extra time to congratulate him on his accomplishment.

The sticker chart was a little bit of a bomb for Tate.  He enjoyed it for approximately 2 days, and then he almost forgot about the fact he got stickers for "relieving" himself.

The big "guns" (a.k.a. the die-cast Thomas engines) have come out to reward our little guy for telling mommy or daddy if he has to go.  They've all but KILLED him to see them on the counter just WAITING to be played with and enjoyed.  It took several days (and several tears) and I'm still scratching my head if he really understands he's receiving them for telling us he has to go, instead of just for simply "going."  Whatever.  It's working.  He told us twice yesterday, once for pee and once for poo.  Today we ran out to let him run (since we've been so cooped up in the cold weather) at the mall.  Five minutes into looking at the puppies in the pet shop he exclaims, "I have to go pee!"  We hurried and scurried (to use a little "Thomas" language) to the bathroom and had success!  Dry pants, and results in the potty.

I really can't believe we've only been going hard-core on this for about 2 weeks.  There were a few days in there I was sure we were going to have to put him back in diapers and hang our heads in shame, but alas he is slowly and surely getting this.  I finally understand how proud parents get of their children when the light-bulb just starts going off in those sweet little heads of theirs.

So yes, I've rambled for several paragraphs about defecating.  I know we are far from there, but we're closer every day.  There will be many more accidents, and staying dry through the nap and nighttime are in the future as well, but we've got a good start.  I was so afraid of this one.  I still kinda shake my head all the time that God gave me a son.  Well, it's more like he loaned him to us.  I'm realizing more and more each day how much God is raising this kid through Dan and I.  Ultimately, He is in charge of getting the job done.  The relief that brings is palpable at times.  This "mom" thing is pretty awesome.  (Battle scars and all.)