potty training

oh one of my least favorite parenting duties.... the potty training. i am just not that big on cleaning up the potty misses. but who is, right? cry, cry, sad for me... like every other parent just relishes cleaning up poop. boo hoo.  the potty training went fast--- it is the your underwear is not a diaper that tripped us up. i go by the old stand by of run around naked till you learn how to do your business and then we will see about some clothes... so during that time you see a lot of this...

random moments of nudity become commonplace... it was easier with ari. i would just put her in a long dress or skirt and we would be covered for being out on the front porch and say talking with the mailman..or the grade school neighbor kids who aren't sure what to do with the half naked toddler linebacker running after them... 

side note:

 i did in fact forget ari was without bottoms the first time i took her to target to buy big girl underwear. we got into the store and i realized she was just wearing a dress no panties! it was all well and good until we got to the check out lane-- she was so proud of her new panties that she lifted up her dress to the cashier and bared it all while exclaiming-- 'i am here to buy my big girl panties! i will not pee pee on the princesses!' wow. the look i got from that lady was priceless.

who cares .. it's not like i'll ever go to target again. (!)

so grayson at first loved his little potty..

 

i maybe forced him to read the sports section of the paper just for this picture. that's what good moms do right? seize upon moments of vulnerability and manipulate them for their own desires..? hmmm.

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so he was doing so well with the pants free potty time we went for the big upgrade. running around in just undies!! grammy had gotten us some thomas and friends underwear and the excitement to break those bad boys out was thick... but i should have known i was doomed from the start when i was explaining to him,

"now you get to wear underwear!"

"why?"

"because you are becoming a big boy and big boys wear undies. but you don't want to go potty in your undies...you don't want to poop on thomas."

he then looked up at me, knowing full well how i would feel about his response...

"why? i like poop on thomas face"

ummm. ok. how do i argue with that?

so that didn't work out so well.

he did, in fact, like to poop on thomas's face. and james. and percy. and ALL his friends.

so we then went to commando style... how about shorts but no undies?? um no. pretty much the same. that is how we were rolling during VBS and we all remember how THAT turned out right?

plus there was the constant problem of this...

again in target... it is possible we are WAY too comfortable with our bodies in target.

so we bought A LOT of underwear, braced ourselves and just went for it.  i mean the boy has to wear clothes right? he will be somewhat limited in life experience if i never let him leave the house or backyard.

 so that's what mommies do. you grit your teeth and bear this.....

because you know someday he might want to be able to leave the house without his neighbors calling the cops... i'm just sayin'.

so on the good days we get to dip into the potty treat jar and do the potty dance and give bathroom hugs and high fives... AFTER we wash our hands of course. :)

i have found that what works is just taking him to the potty every 30-40 minutes. just take him, if i ask him the answer is always no. so i just take him. if i forget there is usually this..

 

but those days are fewer now because the good news is i am almost potty trained....

and maybe someday grayson will be too. :)