Potty Training

Monday was prep day. Tim ran errands with Pickle and at one stop Pickle got to pick his reward/treat for going potty in the toilet. I had called Tim to tell him this. He called me back a minute later saying, "I don't think it's going to be easy to train him" and told me this story:

"I told Pickle when we stopped at Target he was going to pick his treat as a reward for every time you go potty in the toilet. I told him he could pick whatever treat he wanted. He looked at me, pointed his finger and said, "I only want the treat!" 

When they got home I asked Pickle, "We're back from Uncle Ryan's house. Are you excited to learn to go potty in the toilet?"
"NO!" was his reply.

We had been telling him for a couple weeks that after we got back from Uncle Ryan's house, he would learn to go to potty in the toilet. I had been prepping him for awhile hoping that would help him get used to the idea. So after that exchange and story I went into potty training child #2 with the mindset it was going to be difficult and probably a battle of wills. I set myself up for having to clean up lots of accidents and that my patience would be tried. And once again I thought I was going to be eating a lot of my treats to reward my patience when accidents happen.

Tuesday morning came and I was somewhat dreading the idea of potty training him. I didn't have the energy to fight a 3 year old over the toilet and had thought about waiting for awhile. However, when I said, "Ok, let's get some underwear and take off your diaper" his response shocked me. He said, "Ok" and ran off to get his underwear. I was a bit stunned and figured I better get on his "potty chart". It's a piece of paper with a lot of little squares that he gets to put a sticker in every time he is successful in the bathroom. I was making that up and he was standing next me, underwear in hand, saying "Mommy, take my diaper off." I sat there thinking, "Who is this child? Where did he come from?"

So everything got set, he got in his underwear and now, he is potty trained! At least tinkle trained for sure. He's had 1 tinkle accident and nothing ever made it to the carpet. He woke up dry from naps and at night. Since he had done so well, we went out Wednesday to Pach's soccer camp to watch. Pickle was excited because he got to use the bathroom with the red towel. Hahahaha! Whatever works! We have been out a few times and he has done mostly well. We are still working on pooping but for someone who was so adamant about not learning how to use the toilet, he sure has done well. And I only got a couple rewards for myself. I did decide though, I'm pretty calm and good about accidents of any kind during potty training. I decided I needed rewards for everyday life instead. I might actually get to eat some of them!

On a side note: If you ever use a treat for a reward for going in the toilet, red vines are not a good idea. One or two a day is fine but 20 will definitely do things to them you don't want to deal with, especially when potty training! Go with chocolate!