Max loves to play with his toy cars.
He likes to line them up in perfectly spaced little rows.
He likes to put them in a big circle and pretend that they are the ride he went on at the amusement park last week.
He likes to line them up in front of his Little People garage and barn, and pretend that they are garbage cans. His Transformer car then becomes the garbage truck, and it drives up in front of the cars, picks them up and dumps them in the "garbage truck" then puts them back neatly in the exact spot they were taken from. (quite unlike the real garbage collectors around here. No offense intended if you are a garbage collector)
Thirteen days ago, I told Max that we were out of diapers.
They were all gone.
There would be no more. (except for the special "night time diapers" that he could wear to bed)
For seven whole days, Max was amazing!
The Spongebob underwear remained clean and dry.
We were elated!
We rejoiced with each of his victorious journeys to the potty!
We sang his favorite potty songs, and bestowed him with gummi bears, and stickers for his potty chart.
And life was good, for it seemed that our young son had finally figured it out.
He told EVERYONE he saw that he was also potty trained and was now wearing underwear.
He was no longer a baby, he was now a big boy!
We were quite amazed at his incredible holding power. He refused to use any potty other than his own, and no matter how many times we tried to get him to use the restroom at Wal Mart or the amusement park, he refused, but waited until we returned home.
And his pants were always dry.
Until six days ago. He didn't quite make it there in time, and had an accident.
Right next to the potty.
But hey, he's only three, and these things happen, and he's had a really great week, so don't sweat it Max. No gummi bears this time, but I'm sure this won't happen again...........
Right?
Wrong.
There have been multiple accidents. Multiple times in one day. we contemplated putting him back in diapers, but we soon discovered that this wouldn't work because "THOSE ARE NIGHT TIME DIAPERS AND I ALSO ONLY WEAR THEM AT NIGHT! WE ALSO DON'T HAVE ANY DAYTIME DIAPERS! THE DAY TIME DIAPERS ARE ALSO ALL GONE!!" and he would take them off and replace them with underwear.
And then he had two "solid" accidents in one day. He came up to me and said,
"I also did just poop in my underwear!"
(Said rather proudly, as if it were some sort of accomplishment or something.)
"Max!" I groaned "You know you're not supposed to do that, you need to use the potty."
To which he replied "Oh?" like it was the first time anyone had ever mentioned it to him.
Then the second time it happened, as I was cleaning him up, I said "Max, if you keep doing this, you won't ever get anymore gummi bears."
To which Max replies "Oh? ................... O.K. mom, no gummi bears."
He was taking this all too well, so I had another strategy.
We took away his cars. Daddy came in and put all of his cars in a storage box and put them in the very top of his closet. He could see them, but he couldn't play with them.
Poor Max was so sad.
So very, very sad.
We told him that he could have them back when he pooped in the potty.
Yesterday, he did it, and got his cars back.
And life was good, because his underwear was clean and dry again.
All day today, Max played in his room with his cars. He ran them all through the car wash on his Little people garage. He parked them neatly in rows, perfectly spaced, perfectly even.
Tonight just as it was time for Max to get his pajamas on he came to me and said "Mom, you need to put my cars away."
Thinking he was tired and wanted to get his toys cleaned up so he could go to bed, I followed him into his room to help put the cars away, but I discovered that he had already put them in the storage box. He has done this before, so I didn't think anything of it, and started to get him ready for bed.
As I began to help him with his pajamas, I encountered the smell of an "accident."
"Max, did you poop in your underwear?"
"Yes I did! You also do need to put my cars away up in my closet."
First, he was changing his own diapers, now, he's handing out his own punishments. But is it really a punishment if he puts the cars away on his own?
18 comments:
I am so glad I'm not the only one with weird kids. Yeah, all our "methods" come back to bite us, also.
Yes! A kid who hands out his own punishment (provided, of course, that it is the punishment decreed by you and not himself) will save you a boatload of time, once he becomes a teenager. When -- rest assured -- he will no longer be pooping in his underwear.
This is hilarious! Tell him that he needs to be stricter with himself, maybe give himself a good talking to. What a sweetie.
Hang in there.
I also love Max very, very, much, Because he also does make me laugh. He reminds me of that joke about the man potty training the monkey...I am just glad to be laughing at your life, cause mine already stinks!
This story is too cute for words, except you found the words very humorously and eloquently. I love 3 year-olds. It's my favorite age for kids, until they become teenagers.
Oh, the potty training! We cleaned up accident after accident after accident, took toys, pleaded, begged, cried, you name it. Yep, I think potty training is a way of reminding parents that by golly, life stinks sometimes (no pun intended) but now matter what, you still gotta love your kids. :)
ok, so I know you don't know me... but what the heck!
if Max really loves his undies you can always try the white undie vs decorated undy thing.... "cause Spiderman doesn't like to be peed/pooped on" so when there is an accident it's just plain jane for his undies till he uses the potty.
Then again my kids weren't that connected to their undies.... ecpet for the lack of them... I know it sounds messy.... heck it is messy for a bit. But for my kids, buck naked till they used the potty worked wonders.
I am feeling (and smelling) your pain, sister!
While he is a champ at going #1, the Boy just isn't that great at going #2. So I offered a prize: if he doesn't mess his pants for three days, I'll take him to Kangaroo Zoo. He was *almost* there...the evening of Day #3, he and his sister are taking their bath before bed...can you see where this is going? Yeah, cleaning poop out of a bath tub is BAD!
good luck with that. When my little girl did that I wouldn't change her when she requested. She freaked out!! Freaked. She hated it and so she was much more conscientous about the whole potty thing.
I know that this doesn't sound too kosher, but it worked for us. Good luck. I agree with you-If he is putting his cars away then maybe not too much of a punishment.
Max should win an award for the most entertaining kid ever! I love these stories. I'm sorry about the accidents. Does it make you feel better that my second son would have an accident every day for a year? No hyperbole. We tried rewards, punishments, nonchalance...no dice. He just decided to stop one day. Miraculously.
Just repeat after me, "He won't be going to the prom with poop in his pants."
All the comments about the fact that he won't be doing it as teenager. Are they sure about that?
I wondered when mine were turning 4 and still not potty trained! Max crackes me up. I am sure that is not how you feel about it all. If it was me I would probably take the cars away and then add another punishment, or reward. But, I am not mother of the year so don't listen to me.
Yes, there is a reason they are so cute. It is so you don't kill them. Mine are cute and it saves their lives all the time. Grace has gone potty in her chair twice this week. (We're still diapers day and night round here.)
Sam, almost 2, woke up dry this morning and peed in the big toilet. I guess I need to get the potty seat from the attic so he can sit on the big toilet without falling in. Laura, 3 1/2, just started using the big toilet a few months ago, so I should be able to find the potty near the attic door.
I usually start potty training around age 2 1/2, so this desire to be a big kid is a new one to me.
Oh the joys of potty-training. It's amazing how they will deal with things in their own way. One of my daughters went through a stage when she refused to eat her dinner unless it was her favourite. We finally said "If you don't eat dinner you go straight to bed." So when it was dinner time she would look at what we were having, and if it wasn't her favourite she would simply say "Goodnight" and put herself to bed! (Also age 3.)
I'm so glad you are going through this before I start potty-training my little one. We are getting ready, and your funny Max stories are definitely prepping me for the whole ordeal!
I agree with Bonnie. If he's punishing himself maybe it needs to have something else added on top so he gets the picture. But what do I know? Like I said, I haven't started with my first yet, so I don't really know anything! Good luck!
I love it when kids unpotty train themselves. That's a smart kid you got there.
Hopefully he'll retrain himself soon.
As much as I want him to be potty trained for you I am really enjoying your stories and adventures in trying to potty train him. That kid cracks me up!!!! Good Luck with the next tactic!!
After mine were "potty trained," the stinkers got to a point where if they'd have an accident, I'd stick them in the bath to clean them up. Then they'd start having accidents on purpose so they could get a bath. I was so ticked. We switched to cold baths, and that was the end of it! I felt mean, but decided I didn't care. The guilt was better than the dirty underwear.
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