Operation Underwear

Yeah, well we were only beginning to dabble in potty training. Potty Training is hard work!

Constant reminding + Accidents = One tired mommy!

We introduced the potty to Jonah after his second birthday, but didn't make a big deal of it. He started to use it consistently before bath time and would occasionally go during the day. We decided we didn't want to push it at first and waited to see signs that he was ready. I've recently decided it was time to pursue it a little more, but had to psyche myself up for the task at hand. I don't know why but potty training seemed to bring up all of these silly little "fears" and insecurities for me. Is he ready? Is it too early? How do I fit this into or schedule? Will I scar him for life? Sit or stand? I finally decided that if I could teach an entire class of ESL kids how to read, write, and speak English in kindergarten, I could do this.

Thursday was the first day of "Operation Underwear". I knew we didn't have anywhere to be for the next few days, so it would be a perfect time to start. At breakfast I casually started talking about Jonah's friends at Parent's Day Out. I asked Jonah to tell me who uses the potty and have underwear instead of diapers. As he started naming his friends, I started making a list. When he had named everyone in his class, I asked him to tell me who else he knew that wore underwear. By then he started to get into the list. When our paper was almost full, Jonah wanted me to write his name down.  It was a perfect way to remind him that he did not wear big boy underwear, but that he could if he wanted to start using the potty. (Ah, he fell for it!) He immediately went to his drawer and pulled out some Lightning McQueen underwear. We added his name to the list with much excitement!

Next we packed up all of his diapers and wrote a note to "Baby Kale" (our newborn neighbor) since he is a baby and needs diapers. We took the diapers to our neighbors house. Jonah was very proud to pass on the diapers and tell that he is a big boy and wears underwear now.

We went back to start a "Pee Pee Tea Party". Basically, I set up his little table with salty snacks and water. I was hoping the salty snacks would encourage him to drink, which would lead to opportunities to use the potty. I let Jonah use a small cup without a lid so he would drink more thank normal. We had a fun morning in the kitchen for easy accident clean-up. We did puzzles and colored pictures. Every few minutes I would ask Jonah if his underwear was dry and if he wanted to sit on the potty. We had lots of successes and a couple of accidents, but overall a good day. Boy, was I exhausted!

Day 2 of Operation Underwear was a little harder. Jonah was a little resistant and had some accidents. I wondered if I was crazy and should have waited. One thing for sure, I knew I wasn't going back to diapers and confusing him.

On Day 3 of Operation Underwear I had to be away for part of the day to go to a women's conference. I was a little worried how he would do with prompts from someone else, but decided he needed to get used to hearing others prompt him to use the potty. Jonah was at Granny's house for the morning. When I returned, I found out that he hadn't had any accidents all morning. He was super excited and told me he wasn't going to pee in his underwear. That evening we decided to go out for Chick-fil-a and run an errand since things were going so well. Jonah ended up using the public restroom at Chick-fil-a with no problems! It was a great day for potty training with zero accidents!!!

I was nervous about Day 4 since we had to go to church. I wondered if he would get distracted and forget to go. Much to our surprise he went through the day without having an accident again! This mama is proud!

Today is Day 5. I was worried that he would get distracted at Parent's Day Out. When I got him from his class at the end of the day, he was still dry! I think he might have the hang of it!