Saturday, May 10, 2008
My potty training tale...
I just read Jamie Jung's post from April 23 about potty training. Personally, I'd never even consider trying it with a 2 year old, unless they took off their diaper, and came to me and said, "You know, I'd really rather do my "business" in a toilet, like a civilized human." And then, I'd be skeptical. 2 year olds aren't that well known for being compliant on ANYTHING, and while I understand that incredible desire to not have to change those nasty diapers that 2 and 3 year olds produce, well... that's just a bit young.
Of course, I had 2 boys. Boys are an entirely different creature from girls, (well, DUH!) and they have a harder time with the whole muscle control thing, AND they tend to speak a bit later than girls do as well, making it difficult to communicate their needs. My oldest one WAS day time toilet trained by the time he was just over 3. But the minute he'd fall asleep, ANY time he'd fall asleep, the shut off valve would malfunction, and he had an instant water bed, if you get my drift. That took a long time (only till he was 4, but it felt like for EVER) to get him over.
Then came Andy. That boy has been a struggle from the minute we found out he was on the way! OH I was sick! And I retained water better than the Hoover Dam ever could! My feet and legs were so swollen, I had stretch marks that oozed liquid on the tops of my feet. MAN that hurt! One of my older brothers, who isn't normally the "warm and fuzzy" type, said, "Gawd, it makes me want to cry FOR you just to look at you. Does it hurt as much as it LOOKS like it hurts?" And then when I was about 30 weeks into the 40 week pregnancy, they did an ultrasound and told me that he'd probably weigh between 11 and 15 pounds. Yeah, you're going in after him, Doc... no WAY I'm pushing out something the size of last year's Thanksgiving main dish! C-section went fine, Al came back out to say, "9 pounds 15 ounces!" and I said, "Is that ALL?" They thought I was insane! Fine, they may have thought that for other reasons, but still.
So he turned 3 on June 16, 2005. He got a potty chair long before that. I even put the potty chair in the living room, so he wouldn't have to walk so far. I was going to use the puppy pad method. Get him to use the potty chair out in the living room, and then slowly and methodically move it down the hall to the bathroom, and eventually, he'd use the toilet. Well, that didn't work at all. The seat became a hat. I think he DID actually use the potty chair for its intended purpose once or twice, but he just wasn't "into" it. I was fairly sure that he'd be wearing diapers to kindergarten.
Then one day, November 22, to be exact. At 5:16 pm, He was on the couch doing one of his "shows" that he used to do all the time. He'd grab a hair brush, a spoon, whatever he could find that was microphone shaped, and he'd take a deep breath, and say, "DAYDEES AND GEMMALIN! IT'S DA ANDY SHOWWWWWW!" MAN those were the days! Anyway, I digress... he was right in the middle of his introductions of his "guests", who, by the way, were all him, but with different names, and different acts, and he said, "OH! I gotta POOP!" and he ran down the hallway, stripping off pants and diaper as he went. He got up on the big toilet, did his thing, asked for help wiping his butt, and we were potty trained. That simple. That easy. When HE was ready, THAT's when he's going to do something! He'd been dry all night since July, so I knew he had the control part down. It was just a matter of not being told what to do. And THAT's why I dye my hair, and see a family counselor! My 4 year old can't be bothered with listening to the voice of authority. UGH!
Of course, I had 2 boys. Boys are an entirely different creature from girls, (well, DUH!) and they have a harder time with the whole muscle control thing, AND they tend to speak a bit later than girls do as well, making it difficult to communicate their needs. My oldest one WAS day time toilet trained by the time he was just over 3. But the minute he'd fall asleep, ANY time he'd fall asleep, the shut off valve would malfunction, and he had an instant water bed, if you get my drift. That took a long time (only till he was 4, but it felt like for EVER) to get him over.
Then came Andy. That boy has been a struggle from the minute we found out he was on the way! OH I was sick! And I retained water better than the Hoover Dam ever could! My feet and legs were so swollen, I had stretch marks that oozed liquid on the tops of my feet. MAN that hurt! One of my older brothers, who isn't normally the "warm and fuzzy" type, said, "Gawd, it makes me want to cry FOR you just to look at you. Does it hurt as much as it LOOKS like it hurts?" And then when I was about 30 weeks into the 40 week pregnancy, they did an ultrasound and told me that he'd probably weigh between 11 and 15 pounds. Yeah, you're going in after him, Doc... no WAY I'm pushing out something the size of last year's Thanksgiving main dish! C-section went fine, Al came back out to say, "9 pounds 15 ounces!" and I said, "Is that ALL?" They thought I was insane! Fine, they may have thought that for other reasons, but still.
So he turned 3 on June 16, 2005. He got a potty chair long before that. I even put the potty chair in the living room, so he wouldn't have to walk so far. I was going to use the puppy pad method. Get him to use the potty chair out in the living room, and then slowly and methodically move it down the hall to the bathroom, and eventually, he'd use the toilet. Well, that didn't work at all. The seat became a hat. I think he DID actually use the potty chair for its intended purpose once or twice, but he just wasn't "into" it. I was fairly sure that he'd be wearing diapers to kindergarten.
Then one day, November 22, to be exact. At 5:16 pm, He was on the couch doing one of his "shows" that he used to do all the time. He'd grab a hair brush, a spoon, whatever he could find that was microphone shaped, and he'd take a deep breath, and say, "DAYDEES AND GEMMALIN! IT'S DA ANDY SHOWWWWWW!" MAN those were the days! Anyway, I digress... he was right in the middle of his introductions of his "guests", who, by the way, were all him, but with different names, and different acts, and he said, "OH! I gotta POOP!" and he ran down the hallway, stripping off pants and diaper as he went. He got up on the big toilet, did his thing, asked for help wiping his butt, and we were potty trained. That simple. That easy. When HE was ready, THAT's when he's going to do something! He'd been dry all night since July, so I knew he had the control part down. It was just a matter of not being told what to do. And THAT's why I dye my hair, and see a family counselor! My 4 year old can't be bothered with listening to the voice of authority. UGH!
posted by Julie B. at
12:05 PM
Julie BuntKids: Ben is 18 and Andrew is 4 1/2 (going on 30).
Residence: Wisconsin Rapids
Occupation: Stay-at-home mother
Activities: In addition to taking care of her family at home, Julie holds guardianship for her 81-year-old mother, who lives with her dad, in an assisted living facility. She also is very active in her church, Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran, in the town of Saratoga.
A Description of this blog: My blog will be about my experiences here in Wisconsin Rapids, comparing my children's life with my childhood, and my daily struggles to balance time between making sure my parents' needs are being met and making sure that my family here at home has what they need. Also included will be humorous, (I hope) quips and anecdotes describing my daily struggle to find an island of "girly-ness" in the ocean of testosterone I swim in daily.
Previous
It's been a while.UGH, I tell ya! UGH!
It's times like this, that make me proud to say, "...
Moments to remember...
Remember when?
This is harder than it looks!
SO proud of my little dude!
The other side of my life.
Snow Days...
Starting a new journey in life.
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
Advertisement:
1 Comments:
We men a very methodical about changing our potty habits. We need time to adjust.
http://organizeddoodles.blogspot.com/
By
Rick, At
June 1, 2008 8:17 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home