Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Ta-dah!


I don't want to jinx myself by announcing this to the world but I have to shout this out to everyone:

Jake is finally potty-trained!

(There are no letters large enough, fonts fancy enough, or colors bright enough to do justice to the excitement I want to convey here.) Did I mention how much I hate potty training? Oh, yeah, I hate potty training. It's pretty much the worst part of parenting for me so far. I think that someone should start a potty training camp where I can send my kids and they don't come back until they are completely potty trained. I would pay large sums of money for such an opportunity.

So we've had 7 glorious accident-free days and I really think we are in the clear! It's about time...we've been working on this for a year and he just turned 4! Yay for you, Jake!


From the potty training manual for Jacob E.M.:

Note: Do NOT try the following. It is completely futile. I repeat, failure to comply may lead to serious frustration on the part of maternal parental figure.

1. If he poops his pants in a corner of the house every day, put an x on the floor with masking tape to remind him that he can't go poopy there.
Remove tape once all corners have been marked.

2. Buy him any toy in the store and make him earn it by keeping his underwear dry and clean for three days. Try to the keep the toy away from him for two months.


3. Have him run around naked all day. Explain to neighbors why he is naked and that you really aren't white trash.


4. Make chart after chart and tell him, "Each time you go potty you get a sticker. After _____ number of stickers you get ______."

5. Have daddy handle it.


6. Tell him all his friends go to the potty, that he can't go to swimming lessons or preschool or play at the Ikea kid's drop-off until he goes to the potty all day.


7. Make him wear one of his baby sister's size 4 diapers because you're out of pull-ups.


8. Move to a new house and show him all the new potties. Inform him that we could not go to the potty anywhere else in our new house. Repeat: No poopies in the new house. DO NOT get angry when he gets in the van and poops his pants.


DO try this:
Wait until the kid is ready! This is easier said than done...but just do it.

8 comments:

Cami said...

Ah yay!
Congrats Kir! May your luck hold out and the underwear stay clean!

Shelby said...

I feel your woes and excitement!

Congrats! That is a big accomplishment!

Jessica said...

Seriously, your funniest post ever! You and Cami are trying to make me jealous, I can tell. Seth is only 2 this week, but I KNOW (after 3!) that it is NOT smart to start until they are beyond ready. So I'll be talking to you in a year.

Leslie said...

Kir...you are hysterical. If anyone has had a toddler and can't relate with this...well I just don't know. Sorry we didn't see you in CA. We went there to visit my aunt (and escape our moving mayhem). The cool thing is...we live lots closer to CA now! Hopefully we'll catch up sometime, eh?

naturegirl said...

Way to go Jacob! So excited for you Kirsten! (and jealous)

I totally relate to having potty training success start at 4 yrs. of age. I remember thinking that Ryan would never be potty trained and looking in the stores for diapers size 7, 8, etc. Why don't they make these sizes?! What am I going to do? Ahh, finally he's decided to do it. Whew! That was a close call.

Please, let my girl be sooner!

The Titmi said...

What a will he has! Maybe you can channel it in some way. Wait you can't channel a kid with tons ofwill. They have too much will for that.

Amy & Mark said...

Congratulations! Way to go Jacob and way to go Mommy for all of your, albeit futile, efforts! I'm envious -- especially since we have periodically tried to get Abby trained with no success. I, too, have settled for the "wait until she is ready" approach, but at this rate, I'm worried that she'll be 16 and still in diapers, but I guess at that point we'd have to use Depends . . .

jenncheney said...

soooooo happy for you!!!