Potty Training

As a parent, I’m all about asking other parents for advice. I’m not proud, I’m not pompous, and I’m certainly not perfect. If other parents have tried something and have been successful with it, why reinvent the wheel? Especially when it comes to something as timeless as potty training.

When we decided it was time to ease our oldest out of diapers and into big-boy pants, I was clueless. I didn’t really know where to begin; I just knew where I wanted us to end up. So, I started my research. I asked every mother I could find. I was going to compile a database full of the most effective techniques known to motherhood so that I could get this business taken care of, pronto.

Surprisingly enough, I got an overwhelming number of mothers who had tried and been successful using the same approach: the ole “Sink the Cheerio” technique. It was as easy as tossing a few Cheerios into the toilet and telling the kid, “Sink em!” Now, I’m not one to question those who are experts in their field, but come on. Were they serious? However, I vowed to try it.

The first order of business was finding a way to get the kid high enough so he could actually stand over the toilet to make aim. This meant we would need extra gear: step stool, hand rail, splash guard. Once these were all in place, we were ready to start shooting. Unfortunately—for us anyway—this highly acclaimed technique was a huge bust.

Since then, we’ve tried everything from stickers to candy to a potty chair that sings when the kid makes a deposit. But my boy would still rather go find a hiding place. That got me thinking, “Why not create a place to hide around the potty chair?” So that’s exactly what we did. We placed the potty right next to the tub so the shower curtain could serve as a “tent”. When he sat down on the potty, he could pull the curtain around him, hide, and of course TCB. Well, as creative and inexpensive as this idea was, what it wasn’t was effective. It was good for one deposit. But that was it.

For a while I had him convinced that he could not get into the bathtub at night until he had pee pee’d in his potty. This tactic was working perfectly…until we took an excursion to gramma’s house for a few nights. You see, gramma didn’t have a singing potty, and he didn’t have to use it before he got into the tub. The kid had outsmarted us again.

I suppose there are some things that you just can’t force a kid to do. Brush his teeth, take a bath, pick up his toys—those are things a child can be physically compelled to do, by one means or another. However, some things are apparently left up to nature—and a kid’s stubborn will. I know in his own time, he’ll start to take an interest—when he’s ready. After all, I’ve never seen a 15-year old show up to school in a diaper…well, not yet.

And that’s All in a day’s work!