Candy! Or as Riley would say, "tandy" since she pronounces her c's like t's. Cale doesn't live at our house but Tale does. :) Riley loves candy and it's worked as a bribery to get her to do almost anything. If we want her to finish the rest of her dinner, sit still while I do her hair, lay down to get her clothes on, etc., we just bribe her with candy. It works nearly every time and even though I know it won't work forever, I'm of the mindset that whatever works in the moment, DO IT. Please hold your judgments for later.
Backing up, we've been lightly trying to introduce the concept of going potty in the big girl potty for about six months. We've had a little potty in the bathroom for nearly a year, just to get Cale and Riley used to the idea before we actually started talking about it. Both Alex and I agreed that we wouldn't push the issue and that when they decided they were ready, that's when we would be ready to teach and guide them. As I started to see other kids that were Riley's age become interested in potty training, I would casually ask her if she wanted to try and go in the big girl potty. Each and every time her answer would be a definite "NO!". Alrighty then. After about six months of her refusing to even try, I began to think we would never rid our house of diapers.
A few days ago Riley was laying down on the floor before bed, getting her diaper changed and her pajamas on, and I nonchalantly asked her if she wanted to start going potty like a big girl. As per usual, she glared at me and said, "No!". "But Riley, if you go potty in the big girl potty I'll give you a piece of caaannnnndyyyyy.".
As soon as I said the word candy she jumped up, completely naked, and started running towards the bathroom. She sat down on her little potty and with just a little bit of coaxing she finally went to the bathroom for the very first time! Alex, Cale, and I were all there to cheer and clap for her, which she absolutely loved, and after she was finished she promptly demanded candy. Well, the only problem was that I was so used to her refusing to even try using the potty that I said I'd give her candy without thinking about the fact that we didn't have any candy...not even one tiny piece of chocolate anywhere in our house.
Whoops.
Thankfully, the promise of going to the candy store the next day was good enough and she continued to show interest in the potty even though her mom had lied about the rewards straight to her face. Being very brave (and probably very stupid) I put big girl panties on her the following morning to go to the candy store. She picked out several different kinds of jelly beans and although we still put her in diapers for bedtime, I've been putting her in big girl underwear and we really haven't had too many accidents and she's been very good about telling us when she has to go. We've truly lucked out with this kid and potty training isn't nearly the nightmare I had created it to be in my head.
That isn't the best part, though.
Since we've been spending a good portion of our days in the bathroom, Cale is usually present for most of our trips to the potty. He's been watching Riley, helping her flush, getting the toilet paper for her, and clapping for her when she's done. He seems to be very interested in the whole process and has even asked to sit on the little potty with Riley. :) With Cale's undefined motor delays we aren't entirely sure he can feel the sensation of having to go to the bathroom. We think he can but since he can't tell us we have no sure way of knowing. He has major constipation issues and so it's blatantly obvious when he has to go number two, so I'm assuming he can feel that sensation. Yesterday while he was squatting on the floor, in his diaper mind you, he shot up and headed toward the bathroom as fast as he could go. We followed him in and he was pointing to the potty. I undressed him and plopped him on the potty, not really expecting anything but mainly just humoring him. To my complete surprise he actually went! Riley was there and clapped for him and said, "Good job, Tale!". Cale was so proud of himself and thoroughly enjoyed the process of wiping and flushing. :) Even better, though, Cale walked out of the bathroom and signed the word candy. Well, as most of you know Cale isn't able to eat candy. He's never even tried it. Again, I decided to humor him and gave him one tiny jellybean. Once he put it in his mouth I could see he was a bit scared but he refused to panic and tried to chew it instead. About two or three minutes later he opened his mouth and signed all done!
Holy crap! Cale just told us he had to go the bathroom, he went, AND ate a piece of candy! Three firsts in the matter of five minutes!
I learned a few important lessons yesterday. One was that I should never, ever underestimate Cale's abilities. He is more aware of the things going on around him than I even am. He desires so much to be like everybody else and I'm learning more and more everyday that he is just like everybody else. I've said this before but even though he appears to be different on the outside, he truly is a typical toddler. There's nothing better in this world than watching him figure things out and surprising us with his newfound knowledge. This kid is going places.
Since yesterday Cale has eaten an entire piece of Hershey's miniature candy and two more jellybeans. As any normal child, he's discovered that candy is really good and I can already see that we've probably created a monster. At this point I am just so proud that he's able to participate in normal kid indulgences that I'll give him all the candy he wants. As my mom put it, there's always the option of dentures to fall back on. :)
So I have one child in the midst of potty training and another who is in the very beginning stages, which pretty much means I will be spending the majority of my days in the bathroom. The good news is that our bathrooms will be sparkling clean since there really isn't much else to do while they each spend about half an hour on the potty at a time.
They are their father's children.
Since we've been spending a good portion of our days in the bathroom, Cale is usually present for most of our trips to the potty. He's been watching Riley, helping her flush, getting the toilet paper for her, and clapping for her when she's done. He seems to be very interested in the whole process and has even asked to sit on the little potty with Riley. :) With Cale's undefined motor delays we aren't entirely sure he can feel the sensation of having to go to the bathroom. We think he can but since he can't tell us we have no sure way of knowing. He has major constipation issues and so it's blatantly obvious when he has to go number two, so I'm assuming he can feel that sensation. Yesterday while he was squatting on the floor, in his diaper mind you, he shot up and headed toward the bathroom as fast as he could go. We followed him in and he was pointing to the potty. I undressed him and plopped him on the potty, not really expecting anything but mainly just humoring him. To my complete surprise he actually went! Riley was there and clapped for him and said, "Good job, Tale!". Cale was so proud of himself and thoroughly enjoyed the process of wiping and flushing. :) Even better, though, Cale walked out of the bathroom and signed the word candy. Well, as most of you know Cale isn't able to eat candy. He's never even tried it. Again, I decided to humor him and gave him one tiny jellybean. Once he put it in his mouth I could see he was a bit scared but he refused to panic and tried to chew it instead. About two or three minutes later he opened his mouth and signed all done!
Holy crap! Cale just told us he had to go the bathroom, he went, AND ate a piece of candy! Three firsts in the matter of five minutes!
I learned a few important lessons yesterday. One was that I should never, ever underestimate Cale's abilities. He is more aware of the things going on around him than I even am. He desires so much to be like everybody else and I'm learning more and more everyday that he is just like everybody else. I've said this before but even though he appears to be different on the outside, he truly is a typical toddler. There's nothing better in this world than watching him figure things out and surprising us with his newfound knowledge. This kid is going places.
Since yesterday Cale has eaten an entire piece of Hershey's miniature candy and two more jellybeans. As any normal child, he's discovered that candy is really good and I can already see that we've probably created a monster. At this point I am just so proud that he's able to participate in normal kid indulgences that I'll give him all the candy he wants. As my mom put it, there's always the option of dentures to fall back on. :)
So I have one child in the midst of potty training and another who is in the very beginning stages, which pretty much means I will be spending the majority of my days in the bathroom. The good news is that our bathrooms will be sparkling clean since there really isn't much else to do while they each spend about half an hour on the potty at a time.
They are their father's children.
