Boyds Will Be Boyds: It's Time To Potty!

The tale of Chase's potty training is a long and sordid one, about the length of a summer, since that's how long the process lasted. But I don't want this post to be the length of a summer, so I'll keep it brief (pun intended). After trying the method that worked on Cole (we told him to go potty, so he did it - have I mentioned that Cole and Chase are very different children?), I sought the help of a professional, our pediatrician. At Chase's 3 year wellness check, I told him that Chase was demonstrating all the signs that he's physically ready to be potty-trained, but he just doesn't want to do it. So he told me to let him run around pants-less outside. Well, I thought that was just a great idea! He doesn't care for being dirty, so this most certainly would work to my advantage. But my Chase had other ideas. He worked very hard to sneakingly tinkle in various backyard locations when I wasn't looking...ON PURPOSE! Oh my gosh...a furious rage would boil inside of me every time he did this. I mean, if he can find a way to sneak-tinkle in a discreet locale in the backyard, he can find his way to the toilet, right? Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. So I enlisted the help of several motivational tools including, but not limited to, the following items: a potty training chart, stickers, the promise of preschool, Hot Wheels (many of them), gummy bears, peer pressure (everyone gets a gummy bear when Chase uses the potty), one six ounce can of Sprite, and big boy underpants. Just when I had given up all hope that he would decide to be a man and use the toilet - voila - HE DID IT! And he's kept it up! I am so proud of him, and completely ecstatic that I don't have to worry he'll be entering college some day in a Pull-Up! And in the short-term, I'm just delighted that he reached this milestone just a few weeks shy of preschool...that was our goal!

Completed potty chart...we actually had this up for months with only three stars on it. But it quickly filled up (just a few days) after he decided to cooperate for me. Let me just say, that mini-can of Sprite turned out to be my best friend.