Full of It

I get why potty training is so hard. If you think of it from the child’s point of view, they have a perfectly workable system going, and here’s Mom wanting to screw it all up. The grown up way means that you actually have to stop playing to go poop. What total nonsense. I’m sure the toddlers are thinking that if we grown-ups were smarter, we’d have just invented bigger diapers, so they aren’t real inclined to follow our lead on this one. And all that talk about the potty, it’s embarrassing. Can’t we give them a little privacy? Sheesh.
As for potty chairs, I have rarely encountered such useless inventions. I get that the toilet is too big, not to mention intimidating, for toddlers, but I’ve yet to find a potty chair that Sprout had any interest in except as a hat or an aid to climbing. I think the potty chair explains why boys are harder than girls to potty train. I mean really, who are they kidding with that wee wee guard thing? Sprout became fixated on the wee wee guard and kept taking it off the chair. I have no idea where the thing is now, so on the one occasion he did actually use the potty … You guessed it, geyser time. And of course the removable bowl can end up anywhere in the house at any given time. So the whole potty chair thing seems completely pointless.
We were making incremental progress a while back. Once, rather than hiding behind the recliner in the living room to go number two, Sprout actually went to the bathroom and hid behind the shower curtain. Baby steps, I thought, so I praised him. Then one time he actually sat on the potty chair to await the blessed event. Getting closer, but since he can’t remove his own clothes, not very beneficial in the long run. Still, high praise was given. Since then though, he has had nothing but voluble scorn for the potty chair. So much so that we have removed it from the bathroom. The war isn’t over, but after losing the battle, I’m calling a cease fire.
My sister, Jana, who worked at a daycare, said they had great results with dropping Cheerios in the toilet and encouraging the little boys to “aim their guns” and shoot the Cheerios. Sounds like a plan, so we’ll be trying that next. Note to self: Add Clorox wipes to grocery list.