Potty-Training Update

I thought I should also give an update on Grace's potty-training adventures, for those who may possibly be interested. I would say she has regressed, rather than gone forward. She will still pee (mostly) on the potty, but she will not poop on it. She also will not pee on a big potty, like when we go out, after one flushed automatically while she was still on it. She was terrified! Amy P. did give the helpful hint at Bible study that if you cover the red "eye" with a post-it note, then it won't flush until you take that note off, and now I have some post-it notes in the diaper bag, but I'm afraid the whole thing has set her back quite a ways! So this makes it challenging. For example, she peed before we left for Classical Conversations Thursday morning at 8:45. She was still dry when we done there, at noon, but she wouldn't go on the big potty. We eat lunch there, and I knew she couldn't hold it indefinitely , so of course I was not surprised when we finally did get home, after 1:00, that her pull-up was wet. (I put her in one deliberately, realizing something like this would probably happen.) I know people will say to just carry a little potty in the car, but that's not really feasible, especially on CC mornings, when I already have a ton of stuff to carry out, and we're really rushed. Also, it would be a hassle to deal with everyone else while I take Grace out to the car to go potty. So I'm just not going to go there. Eventually she'll get over it and go on the big potty.

Basically, since she is still having so much trouble with pooping on the little potty, I'm just not going to worry about the whole thing right now. I'll put her in pull-ups if she wants that (which she usually does), and then she will most often go potty on her own, but I'm just not going to worry about the pooping thing. Cleaning up a poopy pull-up is not much worse than changing a poopy diaper, and it's a whole lot better than cleaning up poopy underwear (which I have done my fair share of over the past weeks!). I figure we'll revisit the whole underwear thing in a few weeks. In the meantime, whenever ANYONE in the house goes poopy on the potty, they must come out and announce it in a magnificent manner, while everyone else goes wild with cheering. Then the lucky big girl or boy receives several M&Ms (or Skittles in Caleb's case) for their efforts. This new initiative has made Grace think about the benefits of pooping on the potty, but so far she hasn't cracked, LOL. So we'll see how much longer it takes for her to go potty on a big potty, and to poop in her little potty. I will keep you updated!