I tried potty training Bradley this summer. We were really diligent and all in for this. I put him big boy underwear and we went every twenty minutes, on the clock. At first, he thought it was great fun. I tried all the tricks of the trade... candy, coins, stickers... nothing really caught his attention for any worthwhile length of time but peanut butter cups. We had had some success with that as a motivator so I stocked up on like four bags of mini peanut butter cups in the fridge. So he liked the candy and for about two hours he was dry and going in the potty every twenty minutes. We even had a bowel movement in the potty, not at twenty but at “grunt” and I ran him in there super fast. I was excited and starting to think that we might be getting somewhere... hah!
The peanut butter cups stopped motivating him because he was not happy to leave his IPad for the time it took us to go in and then come back out. So then we tried taking the IPad with us. Once. Then not so much. Frustration set in, a less than properly placed BM, and I knew we were done for the day. One bath later and a fresh diaper and we were good. Our luck was less than banner the next day: more accidents, more withholding until his underwear was back in place and a whole lot of frustration very early. So we stopped, I ate one of the little bags of peanut butter cups for breakfast and hoped to try again later in the summer.
With Sydney trying out for the Volleyball team, I can’t help but wonder where the summer actually went. It kind of felt like the majority of Season happened before school ever started. Well, we were shocked and amazed when she actually made the team, politics are what they are and well...totally the last thing we expected. So there was a whole bunch of me driving back and forth and thanking God for Madison who kept her brother for me, which kept Bradley from sitting in the car for long periods of time. And with it being a hot summer, saved me gas since I could wait with the windows down. since I don’t sit in a hot carseat. This worked out well for all of us, Madison made extra money by taking care of her brother, I got to go to more of Sydney’s games and just watch and not have to worry about Bradley, and Madison got to steer clear of the political nonsense of the Varsity High School Volleyball team. But Bradley wasn’t have much luck potty training.
So then he gave a little indication that he might be interested, so I put him back in big boy underwear
and set the timer. Here we went again. I always start these events in a good frame of mind, attentive and ready to do the work - shuttle him back and forth, ready to cheer him on, ready to clean up mistakes quietly and keep on trying. And some days; I swear, he watches me get him all set up all the while he’s just chuckling inside thinking... “Hey y’all, watch this!” Good grief!
So off we go...I’m sitting beside him on the couch, when he gives a little grunt. So mom goes into action, I scoop him up, set him on his way and guide him into the bathroom. What follows still haunts me...
He doesn’t like the regular toilet, so he still wants to try the training potty. Only those are kind of small from the size of the ring to the size of the bowl. Ugh. Bradley goes in and I drop his pants for him and he immediately sits down. I tell him good job. Before I can finish he stands up, I start to tell him to sit back down, try again...only he grunts and he evacuates his bowels and hits his target with almost perfect precision. Some of his ammo has landed on the seat, so I stop him from sitting and tell him I have to empty and clean it before he can sit again. I move to grab the seat and think, please don’t pee all over the floor...wrong request. I should have asked for something bigger. Sigh. As I touch the seat, I hear a grunt and a plop... I don’t want to look - and honestly, I don’t have too...the smell has already reached ou and overtaken me. I reach over, slam the bathroom door so the dog doesn’t come help, which the very idea starts my gag reflex to working. I grab wipes and clean Bradley, then set him in the bathtub to wait for the coming bath. I clean up the rug, then roll it up to take to laundry, then dump and clean his trainer potty... then I wash my hands approximately thirty seven times, give or take. And then I give Bradley a bath. Once he’s clean and smells like his Dad again (same shampoo and body wash) I get him freshly diapered, dressed and set him up with his
blocks and his movie while I quickly start laundry. Ugh!!!
After I come in and wash my hands another twenty times, about ish... I make breakfast and drink a cup of coffee and wonder why exactly potty training him is something I ever wanted to try...like ever. And then continue the dismal train of thought down the road of knowing that the next school break I will be trying yet again to do the apparently impossible task of potty training.
Instead, I spent the rest of summer training my oldest on how to drive. More nerve wracking, but nearly as messy or smelly in the long run. At least that met with success as she passed her driver’s test on the day before school started. Pretty proud of that kid. Proud of my middle kid for standing tall amongst a somewhat negative coaching staff and making the team. And I’m proud of my little guy, he keeps letting us try this potty training thing and he doesn’t hold it against me when he gets frustrated with the process. And though he doesn’t like the mess, he moves past it pretty quickly. Time will tell, but I am pretty sure that the whole world will hear my celebratory shouting if this ever actually happens!
Happy Saturday Everyone! October is quickly winding down and I swear I just blinked and we were in September and the middle of High School Volleyball. One more blink and we’ll be in the middle of the Holidays, a new Volleyball season and a brand new year! Wow!
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