Potty Training, Round 2, Day 4

Didn't I predict a day of rebellion? Yeah, that would be today. It wasn't completely horrible, we aren't giving up or anything, but this momma is tired. It doesn't help that there was an ice storm today so we couldn't go anywhere, but I thought I'd take advantage of that to keep him in training pants all day.

He did some things well. In the morning especially, he waited a long time between sitting on the potty to pee. I kept asking, and he kept saying, "No, don't want to," very matter of factly. When he did finally go, he only peed a little bit. At one point I went upstairs to get dressed and brush my teeth, for maybe 5 minutes. When I returned, he was in the bathroom with the door shut. I walk in and he is standing in front of the toilet with a guilty look on his face, saying "Peed on floor." Boy, did he! He must have been saving that up from overnight even! It was quite the puddle. The good thing is that he felt the urge and ran to the bathroom, but he wanted on the big toilet not his little potty seat, and he has a hard time getting up there on his own, so he just didn't make it. So I was positive with him, saying "Accidents happen, you'll just try again next time." He said, "like Elmo and Grover! Accidents happen, so that's ok!" He's quoting Elmo's Potty Time, where they sing a song about this. But the way Oliver said it gave me pause because it was in a way that came across as, "Accidents happen, great job!"  like he did something awesome.

Sure enough, it turned out to be the theme of the day. He'd pee in his training pants, shrug and say, "Accidents happen!" and sing the song. Sigh. So we had quite a few long talks about how it's ok if you have an accident, but isn't it much better to pee on the potty and get a sticker. Then this evening, he was in the kitchen playing with refrigerator magnets for a bit, and he came out walking funny. I said, "Do you have to go potty?" He said, "yeah," but as he passed by me on the way to the bathroom, I noticed quite the protuberance from the back of his training pants. Apparently he was busy in the kitchen doing other things. Hey, at least he's not constipated. Sigh.

So he ended the day with 4 stickers, and 5 accidents. And I ended the day doing another load of laundry.

Oh, and 55 minutes into his non-napping nap time today, he comes walking down the stairs into the living room. He figured out how to unlock his door (a safety lock we can manipulate from the outside). This was how we enforce "quiet time" when he doesn't feel like napping. So much for that strategy. It was not a good day for the mommy.

But we aren't giving up. No matter how much he tries to break me down!