Double Deuce

When Erika called me at work to tell me that "it" had actually happened for the first time, I'm certain my coworkers thought someone had called to tell me I had won the lottery. I could not contain my excitement. "It" was #2 in the potty rather than the pants.


In my head I've had a goal of getting this whole potty trained thing behind us before their 3rd birthday. A more-than-reasonable goal in my personal opinion. 


How did that happen, you ask?


Well, bribes (despite how appealing) were only mildly helpful. I took the advice of a friend and didn't allow them to wear pants. (Thanks Beth!) I know - it's a little cold for that. And they don't like not wearing pants. 


BUT IT WORKED. 


I had a little sit down with them. Ben said I was being a hard-a#^. But I was sick of cleaning up poop and was feeling bad for the poop Erika had to clean up. And while I'm more than tolerant of accidents, these were intentional incidents. Not accidents.


The conversation went like this:


Me: "Boys. Look at my eyes. Wearing pants is a privilege. And you've lost yours. No more wearing pants until you decide to use the potty."


The boys looked at me with wide eyes and they understood exactly what I was saying.


Some of my favorite quotes since they've started pooping in the potty:

• "Mom - we make you happy?" (Awww! For days I tried guilting them into going by telling them how sad and mad I was that they were choosing to not use the potty. It helped!)
• "Mom - where's my 'hundred M&M's?" (At one point I promised them 100 M&M's if they did it). While I had forgotten that I said that, they did not forget. Thankfully, even 1 M&M is a huge treat so I was able to count from 1, 2, 3, 99, 100 and they were satisfied after 5 M&M's. (Whew).
• "Mom - can we ride the bus now?" (I told them they could never ride the school bus because they pooped their pants).

We are still a long ways from being officially trained, at least we are now heading in the right direction.