Potty Chronicles, Pt. III

Sigh.  We are at it again...and this time, I am determined we are not looking back!  At the beginning of Spring Break, I told Brent it was time to wear big boy underwear.  He immediately argued with me and backing away as if I were a dinosaur about to eat him. 

I asked if Mommy wore diapers, "no!" he replied.  "Does Daddy wear diapers?"  "No!"  came his response.  "Brent is now a big boy and it's time for him to wear underwear like Mommy and Daddy."  He lost. his. mind.  Screaming, crying, flailing.  I was weak.  I walked away and decided to try a different tactic next time.  I have come to the conclusion that if you are going to start a war, you need to be prepared.

So yesterday, Brent was in a good mood and I realized Spring Break was almost over.  On the spur of a moment thought, I grabbed his stuffed dog, Clifford, and acted as though he were telling me he had to pee.  I ran through the house and to the bathroom as quickly as possible, with Brent on my heels.  Once in the bathroom, I set Clifford on the potty.  "Owf no pee pee, noooo" he said while making appropriate hand gestures.  So I made a pee sound out of the side of my mouth, "pssssss."  Brent laughed, clapping, "Yay, owf go pee pee!" and he flushed the potty.

I told him to pick out a pair of underwear for Clifford since he was using the potty.  We put them on Clifford and Brent wanted some too.  I told him he needed to use the potty to wear underwear and held my breath....YES!  He took the bait!  1 point for Mommy.

I left the TV off all. day. long.  We played Candy Land, Uno Choo Choo, Chutes and Ladders, Cars, Trains, etc.  At first I used a timer to have him go sit on the potty after 15 minutes, and he got mad...sooo, miraculously, Clifford needed to potty every 15 minutes and so Brent had to go, too - after all, he needed to support Clifford in his potty training efforts!  Occasionally, Clifford would randomly let me know he needed to go pee, too.  A few times he sat on the potty and didn't need to pee, and once he even didn't make it to the potty.  Brent was eating it up.  I was ecstatic.  After a few hours, we then lengthened our potty trips to 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and 1 hour.  Every time he or Clifford peed in the potty, they got to do the Potty Dance- which Brent LOVES!  2 points for Mommy.

Brent stayed dry all day long.  Hallelujah.  3 points for Mommy.

At bedtime, I was torn whether to put him in pull-ups or take the chance with the underwear.  I decided on the pull-ups.  Minus a point...

This morning I regretted that decision.  Brent fought me to go back into underwear, then he fought me to sit on the potty....every single time. 

At 7:59am, 1 minute before his "scheduled" potty time, he peed his pants...and did not care.  He helped me clean it up and sat on the potty anyway.

At 9:21am, he peed his pants again...20 minutes after peeing on the potty.  This time, he announced, "Mamaaaaaa, I pee peeeeee" and laughed.  He helped me clean it up, sat on the potty, then I took the advice of a blogger and had him run back and forth from the "scene of the accident" to the potty 10 times yelling "No pee pee in pants, pee pee in potty!"  By the fourth time, he was chanting the words and leading the charade.  He found it so utterly amusing that I feared he would pee in his pants just so we could play "that game" again...

At 11:35am, he did it again, 5 minutes after sitting on the potty but not doing anything.  I went against all of my "teacher instincts" and took away the truck he was playing with at the time he peed in his pants.  Saying he was not happy is an understatement.

At 1:30pm, he went down for a nap.  He peed prior to laying down and woke up 2 hours later dry!  I was SO ecstatic that I immediately told him how proud I was and gave him a new Hot Wheels car...a random surprise.  For some unknown reason, he didn't like this attention and got so mad he threw the biggest fit I have ever seen.  I knew he had to go pee - he had eaten lunch prior to nap then slept for two hours!  Who wouldn't need to pee?!  He absolutely refused.  I sat on the floor of the bathroom and told him to sit on the potty.  He screamed, kicked, fought, cried.  It was horrible.  I felt like the worst mom ever...but I had that little voice inside of me telling me this was a power struggle.  So I stayed calm and told him to pee on the potty.

After ten minutes, he finally calmed down.  As I looked up, he peed on the floor, next to the potty, on purpose.  I am not sure how I didn't lose my mind at that moment.  I calmly sat him on the potty and told him we were not leaving the bathroom until he chose to pee on the potty.  He just stared at me for about two minutes - it was odd.  I am not sure what he was thinking.  Finally, he peed in the potty.  I had him help me clean up the puddle, then we sat in his room for a talk.

I explained that I was going to let him keep the car despite his tantrum because despite his behavior, I was very proud that he got through nap dry.  I told him we had a new plan: every time he peed his pants, I get a car; but every time he tells me he needs to potty, he gets a car.  I swear a light bulb went off over his head.

We went out for dinner with friends and he did tinkle just a little tonight in his pants during dinner, but not enough to notice from the outside.  I did take the car back though, just to make my point.  He used the potty at the restaurant and earned it back.

Tonight he is sleeping in underwear.  I told him I wouldn't take a car if he wets the bed tonight, but that he is expected to use the potty when he wakes up.  We'll see what happens...