tips and tricks
The Pottytraining Blues
Hello, my name is Jenny and I have a 3 1/2 year old son who is not potty trained. (nervous silence) It all started normally… he was a happy healthy baby, who seemed to be hitting all the major milestones, at least within a month or two. We never expected this to be a problem. Naively, we bought the underwear and potty chair– read him the potty training books and showed him the movies, set up the reward system…
But alas, our perfect little boy would create the perfect storm by REFUSING to be potty trained. Oh, sure, he played along for while. But in the end, he just didn’t go for it. We tried more treats, new rewards… fancy underwear… still no luck.
So, we thought, ok- so he’s not ready. We’ll give him some space and surely he’ll decide to go on his own. We waited, and waited, and waited… well, we’re still waiting to be quite honest.
(long uncomfortable silence)
There are many who would judge. We didn’t do it correctly, we’re not patient enough, we went about it all wrong. If we just tried (fill in the blank) it would work… And maybe they’re right.
But here’s the thing. When you outweigh and outnumber a child, there are a lot of things that you can make him do… get in the car, go to bed, get dressed. But you CANNOT make a child go on the toilet. You can plead, threaten, cajole, bribe… but when it comes right down to it, if he doesn’t want to go, HE WON’T GO. It’s one of those sad facts of life, like death or taxes (only more messy).
So… After another guilt trip, and another episode of “surely if we just force the issue,” we’re about to embark on ATTEMPT #32. Let’s hope this time’s the charm.
We’ve got the Spiderman underwear, the reward system, and the special seat all in place.
Here’s hoping!
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