Potty Training 101

This past Thursday Jack asked to go Potty on the Big Boy Potty. I was floored. I didn't think he was ready, nor had he shown any interest in the past when we'd talk about it. Anyhow, he did it- first time no big deal. I talked things over with my mom and she gave me the pep-talk I needed to go and try this. It actually has been doable. This was one of the things I was not looking forward to as a parent. I don't do well with messes- especially of the human kind.

I'm not saying he's Potty Trained in one weekend, but we've made some great progress!

On a side note; hence the potty training it has made us stay inside for the past couple days. I am not the sort of person who stays at home. We always get out of the house at least once a day and most days we are gone for a good portion of the day. I have to confess that I have probably let him watch too many movies and play too much Wii, but he has been happy. Today we are going to make play dough and build forts- then for the big reward of going #2 in the potty off to Kangaroo Zoo tonight for a Potty Party!

Things I've learned thus far about Potty Training (this is for me in the future)-
- You as a parent have to be trained to be calm and not pushy, and make it fun and exciting
- Consistency of getting him on the potty
- Bribery works!
- Be creative
- Expect accidents and rejoice when they don't happen!
- It never hurts to pray for strength- I know that might sound silly, but there is NOTHING to trivial for the Lord's help.

As for the "Be Creative" bullet listed above, I have to expound on that a little. Jack has this Winnie the Pooh movie that he loves to watch. It's actually a compilation of some video's that we had and watched as kids. I've always loved Pooh Bear. There is this one experience that Pooh has of getting stuck in Rabbits front door/hole after eating too much honey. Rob and I were watching this with Jack a while back and there is this cute song that comes on after Pooh budges. It goes something like this "Hooray for you, hooray for me, hooray, hooray, the Pooh will soon be free". At this point while Rob started laughing and laughing- I didn't quite get it :). After a little explanation from Rob- BTW he ruined that movie for me, I started laughing too. It had been a couple days since J-man had gone #2. I was getting a little worried and anxious. I'm sure Jack could sense this. I wasn't quite sure how to get him to sit long enough on the toilet to get the job done. #1 was no problem, but how to get him to sit... Last night I had a thought. Get the portable DVD player and bring it into the bathroom. It worked! I'm not saying the song had anything to do with it, but it probably didn't hurt either!

Here's to good thoughts and continued success in the potty training world!