First, my favorite topic: food. Last night I made two recipes for dinner called Blushing Bunnies and Vegetable Roll-Ups. They're from my 1950s McCall cookbook (which I am loving). Blushing Bunnies are toasted slices of bread covered with a mixture of tomato sauce, condensed cheddar soup, and dry mustard, topped with crumbled cooked bacon. Vegetable Roll-Ups, the way I made them, are flattened slices of bread spread with a butter and cheese mixture, topped with grated carrots, rolled up. Xander is almost tomato-phobic, but he loved the Blushing Bunnies. I didn't use the "t" word and he asked for seconds. The Vegetable Roll-Ups were fine with him, too. I loved it. Nick ate about as much as he usually does for dinner - not much.
The last few days, I've been prepping Nick for this moment. He is going to wear underwear today. As long as he is sitting on his potty chair, I will allow him treats like M&Ms, raisins, grapes, and TV-watching. When he's not on the potty, I'll check his underwear every 15-30 minutes and give him a treat if he is clean and dry. Intellectually, he knows what I expect of him although he doesn't really know the sensation of going in the potty. He's excited to do this, finally.
As time goes on, I think I'll be able to cut back on the treats easily enough. Nick actually likes getting stickers on a chart, unlike Xander at this age. Yes, this program is full of bribes. Honestly, with our two boys, bribing along with preparation and firm ultimatums is the way to go. I've heard other parents of boys say this, too, but it felt like Xander would have been happy to let me take care of his messes for a very, very long time. There comes a day, though, when you change a diaper and think, "I shouldn't be changing this anymore." If our child can really talk about his dirty diaper and how he doesn't want it changed, he needs to be depositing elsewhere. :)
I am pretty confident right now. In two days, I will probably be posting in tears. Then I can look back at this post and laugh.
Good luck! I hope it will go quickly for you guys! I am scared to death to train a boy next. Girls are just so easy! :)
ReplyDeleteHahaha, that's what I hear! It's funny how similar both our boys have behaved in terms of potty training. Tried early training with both of them which didn't work and caused lots of stress, but did introduce them to some of the concepts. Tried almost-three-year-old training with both of them, and boom! It was the right time.
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