Potty Training

I hate potty training. It ranks right up there with housebreaking dogs. And yet I seem to put myself through both on a regular basis. We still have The Baby who's not toilet trained yet and he's been showing signs that he could be ready. I figured I'd better tackle the job. In order to sway the inclination in my favor I purchased M&M's and put in a jar on the back of the toilet. These were hit pretty hard when we hosted a hay ride here Sunday evening. I wondered what all the kids ate that affected them so adversely. Turns out they were rewarding themselves for finding the bathroom. Is nothing sacred? Good heavens, they belong to the baby!

But back to the issue at hand. I introduced the concept that standing up to the toilet and making the effort was rewarded with chocolate. Being an intelligent boy, and highly motivated by food, his little light bulb was almost visibly flashing above his head. After chewing his one piece of candy he ran over to the stool and stood up to the toilet again. This time the strain produced a tiny stream and he was rewarded with two pieces of candy. Wow! The bulb was flashing neon at this point. Too bad he was fresh out of anything worthy of making a splash. I had to usher him from his new favorite room of the house. And hide the candy jar.

This morning he was thrilled to make an effort, and I was glad to reward him. And he tried again. He only gets so many tries before I send him on his way. He's definitely got the concept of what one does with the toilet. Now I've just gotta get him to hold himself so that he has something to be rewarded for when he's there. This could be a challenge.