Well, after really trying to get this kiddo potty trained I think it's time to take a little break. I have tried everything I can possibly think of to get this kid trained. Fun incentives, talking about how he can be a big boy, bribing, just putting him in underwear and letting him go...nothing has worked. He really likes going pee in the toilet, but he only goes if I tell him to. He rarely goes on his own incentive and it really isn't "training" if I manage to catch him before he goes in his pants.
So, we are taking the weekend off, I'm letting him go in his pants (diaper/pull-up) and am using reverse psychology on him. He was reading his Elmo potty book this morning and I said, "Oh, well, Elmo can go potty in the toilet, but you can't. You are just too little." We'll see how that goes. Next week is a new week and maybe I will be a little more sane.
As you may have noticed, Sam actually updated the site! He is able to get on regular internet from his room with his new laptop. We have been talking everyday on Skype which has made a world of difference. I don't know why, but perhaps seeing him makes it seem like he's here. Nathaniel can see and talk to him, and Aaron can hear his voice. When Nathaniel acts up I can have Sam speak sternly to Nathaniel so it seems more of a team effort.
I also spoke at Friday chapel for church yesterday. It was fun, but frightening for me. First of all, I haven't taught people over the age of 18 since preaching class a year and a half ago. Second, almost everyone who goes to Friday chapel is retired. What can I teach? I preached on James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy my brothers, when you face trials of many kind..."
It went really well. The boys were really well behaved and I only had to throw Nathaniel the "look" once to get him to sit still. It is awkward for me when people give me positive feedback afterwards though. Mainly because I teach Jr. High students who don't even pay attention, much less think of having a dialogue with the teacher afterwards.
Other than that, things are going well here. Had my post-partum check up yesterday and I'm cleared by the doctor. My internal stitches are starting to work their way out through my incision, which is weird, but normal. My weight is coming off fast, which is extremely encouraging. I am 7 pounds from my original weight and 15 pounds from my ideal weight. I figure that it shouldn't be too hard since I'm not a student anymore and am much more active than I was after I had Nathaniel. We'll see how it goes. I have five months until the 10 year reunion so I have a good window of time.
Hope people are doing well!
Our attempts at raising God-fearing children while joining the real world. It's been a crazy ride so far, but God is ALWAYS good.
3 comments:
Hey girl, don't worry too much about it - there's been a lot going on in Nathanials life at his stage (new baby, daddy being gone) so if it take him a little longer, so what. Owen was a loooooong time training and he did get it on his own time schedule for sure. ;) Here's a few articles that I found encouraging while going through training with him. I still had them bookmarked so I thought I'd pass them along.
You're doing great!!
http://www.pottytraining.com.au/toilet_training/hints_and_tips
http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/parenting_tips/potty_training/index.html
http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/toilet_teaching.html
oh, and one more thing that seemed to help with Owen when it was clear to me that he was just being stubborn/lazy about training was that I very matter-of-factly (non-disiplinary) told him one day that if he continued to have accidents that was okay, but he was going to need to learn to clean up after himself more (i.e. take his own soiled clothes off and to the laundry room, wipe himself with wet washcloth and re-clothe himself).
I just put out a pile of clean undies on the back of the toilet so he could do it and when more of the responsibility came onto him to decide that made the biggest difference for him - especially when it came to disposing of the poopy - of course I 'helped' but it was mostly him I just coached him with what he needed to do. When it was more effort for HIM than me to clean him up he seemed to make the connection and new-found motivation.
This too shall pass...so to speak. You're a good mommy.
ks
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