Adventures in Potty Training - Part 3.3

If you are so inclined to catch up on this adventure:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3.1
Part 3.2


Part 3.3

Day 3 – Yep, even after my frustration from day 2, there was a day 3. Actually, I can give Dan the credit on this one. He was up with the kids first thing in the morning and let me sleep in (LOVE him!), so by the time I woke up I had found out that Evan already had an accident in one pair of underwear, and lucky me – just had his 2nd accident right as I got going in the morning. So we scrapped the underwear and went back to our little naked boy. Only difference, today we decided to give him an M&M as soon as he was done using the potty. That seemed to make a difference. He even pooped in the toilet (for 2 M&M’s)!! I was quite impressed, and I thought to myself – alright, this just might work.

Then another thought crossed my mind. Hmm. We are driving to Cincinnati for a wedding in less than a week, and that will take us no less than 8 or 9 hours, but if we have to stop to let Evan use the bathroom 10 times – we’ll never make it to the rehearsal on time. Great, now what? So Dan and I kept the conversation on the table for rest of the morning, but we continued on with naked boy – did the same pull-up’s-for-nap-time routine, and got the same you-are-cutting-off-my-toes reaction after he woke up and I asked him to go to the bathroom.


I looked at Dan and once again said “FORGET IT!” The upcoming trip to Cincinnati + the horrible reaction every time we try to take off the pull-ups and ask him to use the potty + not being able to distinguish between a diaper and real underwear = the end of my Rx for patience. He’s not ready. We’re not ready. So I got in our dented vehicle and drove off to buy diapers.


What have I learned from this experience? Apparently our child is more stubborn than both me and Dan put together. And THAT is scary! I've been asking for advice from people who have "been there, done that" and I've gotten mixed responses. But the one thing that has come up most often is if he is ready, he will let us know. And really, that's what we learned out of this experience. We just have no reason to push it right now - and if we push him too hard, it will just be miserable for all of us! I’m not sure when we will "try" again, or if we will just wait it out, but eventually we will get to Part 4, and I hope to goodness there isn’t a Part 5. Stay tuned, I'm sure I'll write about it again...