Potty Talk

Well, my friends, I am so, so, SO proud and happy to report that the three-olds have said 'bye-bye' to diapers and 'howdy' to big-boy underwear!

Using the method described in this book, I spent Friday morning training Smith and Sunday morning training Mason. Phewf-ta! Both boys picked it up quickly and I have not put a diaper or pull-up on either of them since their training day...even at night!! We've had accidents, of course (only one at night), but the accidents have provided the best learning experience and have really helped the monkeys get what it's all about. This is the method, in a nutshell:

1. Teach them the process with a doll/monkey/teddy bear.
2. Have them teach the teddy bear.
3. Provide lots of salty snacks, drinks, and candy for motivation and ample opportunity for practice using the potty.
4. When an accident occurs, the child must practice walking quickly to the potty from various locations in the house with the wet britches still on, then remove the wet underwear and put them in the laundry before pulling on clean britches.
5. Praise the child excessively, disapprove strongly at wet britches.

The book/method was developed in the 70's, so there are some funny illustrations, mildly offensive terminology, and a few irrelevant tangents, but I highly recommend it to anyone trying to potty train. It gave us a good solid start to our new adventure in pottying. :)

Smith's tummy bear practicing. We moved the potty chair into the kitchen for easy access.We squirted water into the potty for pee and a brown m&m for poo. Classy, I know.

Smiggle and his bear modeling big-boy underwear.

Celebrating the milestone by calling all the Grammies and Papas.

Amos-Moses in boots and britches. After all the candy he earned from pottying, he was quite energetic (i.e. hopped up on sugar) and ran outside in this get-up to chase birds around the yard.

Yikes! Stripes! M and his tummy bear in big-boy underwear.

Matt took the big boys morel hunting on Monday. True to their gender, they LOVE to pee outside and do so whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Like most things worth doing, there have been some challenges. With their new skills, they have also figured out that needing to pee is an excellent excuse to get out of bed at night...five, six, ten times. After three full days of intense training, I was mentally and physically exhausted. My dear husband can attest to this and the emotional breakdown that ensued...hence the morel hunting trip on Monday. He got the boys out of the house and gave me a much-needed break from all the potty talk. Ha.

I am so very pleased with my big-boys and this monumental accomplishment. With this under our belt, we're on to bigger and better things!