Well guess what folks??
It's that time again!!
As of today, the kids are officially "Off Track" for three whole weeks!
Do you remember how bored the poor little darlings were the last time?
And how I so kindly arranged for all sorts of fun activities to keep them busy?
(Do you think I could come up with any more links?)
Well, I have, yet again, planned some very fun and educational activities that
#1 on my list................Plant and care for a garden.
This is something we have never done before. When I told the kids about this plan, the were ever so excited!
Well, maybe excited might be too strong of a word to describe their feelings on the subject.
Then CJ made a very good observation.
"Mom..........um............ we don't really know anything about planting a garden."
to which I reply "The internet is such a wonderful thing! Go google how to grow a garden!"
Does anyone know where we could find the book "Gardening for dummies?"
Does such a book even exist?
#2 on my list..................
Are you ready?
It's a good one!
I'm feeling rather clever right now!
Here it is!!!
#2. I will have my three oldest kids potty train Max!
I thought it was a fabulous idea, but when I told the kids that they would be doing this, they gave me strange looks and made these weird whiny noises.
CJ even had the audacity to ask "Why. Would we. Want. To do. That?"
To which I replied "Because it will be such an incredible bonding experience between you two as brothers!"
CJ wasn't buying it. He said, "I feel bonded enough to him already."
I thought I was being really clever. If they all worked together as a team, they could have Max out of diapers in no time at all!
Right?
I just think that, as kids themselves, they might have some good ideas on how to motivate little Max to use the potty.
Okay, so do you want to know the real reason I want them to do the potty training?
One word.........................
Payback.
I potty trained all three of them. Three stubborn, diaper lovin' little tots. Do you know how much poop that is?
What do you think? Isn't this a fantabulous idea?
P.S. To my sister in law. If this works, I will let you borrow my kids for a few days (or longer) to help you with potty training that cute little niece of mine!
Am I nice or what?
28 comments:
That is awesome!!!! If the potty training works - I will borrow them in about 10 months!!!
As for plants - I went to the garden shop and bought the ones I wanted...then with the kids we we went out and they decided what they wanted...I taught them about some blooming in different months and we had a blast finding the perfect flowers - though mine are younger and seemed to choose mostly on colour!!!!
Have fun!
Looking forward to you blogging about it all!!!
You can potty-train and garden at the same time! Another mother of twins taught me this trick. Take the little potty stool outside then let the little pooper run around in nothing but a tee-shirt (and maybe some sunscreen). The wind on the equipment does something to stir the senses. Pee running down the leg isn't fun. Of course with twins, it worked well because one would say "let's go sit on the potty!" and they'd both go sit and tinkle and giggle. Maybe you can get one of your older kids to play half-nudist if it helps.
Seriously, I think part of the problem we all have with potty training is that modern diapers keep kids so dry they really aren't even aware of what's going on on the elimination front. Good luck, and thanks for stopping by my blog!
I'll be watching. The older brother helping potty train the younger. That's a lot of pee-pee NOT in the toilet! Good luck with that.
(I personally go for the 3 days and $75 dollars version of potty training) You know, where you let the kid go completely naked for 3 days and then you pay to have the couch dry cleaned. It's nice out, he can potty train in the back yard right?
Personally, I would pay them to help motivate them. You save money on no diapers, so the money just moves over to them for a bit, and then, you continue to save money after!
I love the idea. Perhaps you could hire them out over the summer to other families? Do they clean the bathroom when the trainee misses?
My sister (mother of seven) had a cute little "potty parade" song that all the older kids knew....whenever the 'trainee' "went" on the potty, they would grab spoons and pot lids and have a little parade around the house. The last one (currently 4 1/2) trained in a weekend by the babysitter while sis and hub were on vacation.
Now THAT is a deal.
Blessings, EJT
Jill I love the Ideas. I can see the kids reluctance. I think they are fabulous. I have a book on gardening with kids. Get me your address I will send it. Then you can send choclate in kind. I am serious I will send it. I have to get feeling better so I can do mine.
My brothers also used to play swords in the toilet. The outside thing might be your best bet.
Suggest to the older kids that any money svaed by not buying diapers will be theirs for a special treat. Say it costs $40 a month for diapers. The trainers can choose one thing (that they are allowed to have) that costs $40 after Max is trained.
I like those ideas... especially the older ones potty training the younger! Excellent idea on your part!
Actually, I think they might have a gardening for dummies book! I've seen a Container Gardening for Dummies before... they actually have a dummies website with lots of info on it. http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/
That is a great idea. I offered my oldest $50.00 last summer to potty train my then almost 3 year old. My oldest, said, "No Way!"
My youngest is now almost 4 and I am officially done with diapers. After 13 years of diapering & potty training, I am done. I never thought the day would come. I am so horrible, I now just laugh when I see the diaper isle at the store as I skip past it.
Hey!! I've been wondering how I would ever be able to bring myself to potty train yet another child....I never considered making the older kids do it for me!! I might even pay them!
let me know how the PT-ing is going! I've got my 23 month old in underwear today and so far no accidents. HOWEVER, he fell asleep in the high chair eating lunch, 15 minutes before it was time to try peeing again, so I'm not holding my breath he wakes up dry from his nap. O'well.
We're potty training, too. The Boy gets a chocolate chip every time he sits on the potty. I told da Boo that if she gets him to sit, then she gets one, too. That's helped. She's gotten him a little more excited about the potty.
After taking nearly a year to get my daughter potty-trained, I decided that I need to open a potty-training camp. Seriously. I would make millions from those frantic parents who couldn't get their little ones to stay dry. :)
Sigh. I've got a soon to be three year old still in diapers. She did REALLY good for about a week and then refused to use the potty anymore- so we went back to diapers. I'm going to pay my oldest to potty train her this summer- I think it's a GREAT idea!
I love it. Maybe I will go for a girls trip you can send over your kids and together with Jace they can all work on it.
I hear there are cheap rates to Vegas!
Oh, I am so dreading the kids being out of school for the Summer. Hey! A garden is a good idea! I may have to excite my kids with that one:)
I think it's only fair the kids potty train Max. You've had your turn too many times right? I tried this. . didn't work so well. The kids would get REALLY cranky with Ty-Ty and he in turn wouldn't go potty for them. It was once again Mom to the rescue! Good luck! I hope it works great for you:D
This is brilliant, but darn.....you're doing this 6 years too late. I could have really used them back then.
I thought the real reason for the potty training would be "birth control." I can't imagine a teenager alive that would risk pregnancy if they knew they had to face potty training. I would have thought twice being a married woman of 23, let me tell you.
Also, in case no one else has commented on this, there IS a Gardening book for dummies! Apparently it doesn't say much about vegetables but hey, maybe it could help the kids. A friend of mine started thegarbledgardener at wordpress - if your're interested - to detail her gardening escapes. So far, she's killed her basil and is unsure about the rest of her plants because she bought them before her raised beds were ready.
Ah, joy.
Oh, and you should make your teenager sing, "The prophet said to plant a garden" the WHOLE TIME. They will LOVE it!!
OK, so now I'm just trying to boost your comment count (and whine a little myself, regardless of your blog title). But I would console yourself with the fact that at least your children won't be out of school for three WHOLE months. Yup, June 12 is our last day and it won't start until until Sept. 3. Sob. Sniff. Even worse, we have a "staggered start" here which is really just a tease. Half the kids will go to school on the 3rd, the other half on the 4th (meaning my children will be home on the 4th) and then everyone goes to school on the 5th. Yeah. After three months, can't they just keep them?
Oh, and even better, since I'm totally whining here, my kids' first day of school is EARLY RELEASE. They get out at 1:25p. *sigh* Calgon take me away.
Brillinat mom! My middle one trained my youngest. It worked so great. You have to make sure to bribe them! Give them something great-it is so worth it to you-right? Thanks for all the sites and info, summer starts here for us on friday-so feel bad i have 3 months of kids home saying I"M BORED!
Hey-i have got more info up about the swap, go and check it out!
LOVE teh plan!!!!! Keep us updated on the progress.
Good luck in the next 3 weeks!!
Why didn't we ever think of having the older ones potty train the younger? My gestapo-like oldest would have forced compliance all too quickly. Oh well, perhaps it was for the best (for our younger 2) that we didn't use this method.
I'm loving the whole square foot gardening concept - www.sqaurefootgardening.com
Check that out for ideas- it's kind of gardening made simple..kind of.
Have a great off track time - I love it when we are off track!
So I really do have to potty train my oldest all by my lonesome? That's why procrastination is such a friend to me.
And I google everything. I cooked a turkey by googling it today. I love the internet.
hey girl that is so popular she has 25 comments on her blog-I am jealous, I want to be like you!
I know that you are busy-but can I bug you for one more thing? I need your info for swap. if you would email me your stuff by this weekend-i would be grateful!
sassystylin@comcast.net
You are a mess! LOL! Good luck with the Great Potty Experiment. If it works you could write a book and get rich enough to pay somebody else to pull your weeds!
I'm totally doing the same thing right now! And I've added an incentive of $10 for my 7 year old daughter when the job is DONE. Totally worth it!
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