Wednesday, July 08, 2009

He'll be in therapy for YEARS

We've started potty training Campbell, and by "we," I mean Ella and Lily.

I bought Campbell a little potty a while back, and in the past week he's started showing interest in using it. When Campbell peed in the potty successfully for the first time, the girls did the happy potty dance with him and put stickers on him and on his potty chart. There was much joy in Mudville.

The second time Campbell used the potty, the girls were in the bathroom with him, reading books to him when he peed. I gave candy to Campbell as a reward and offered Ella and Lily candy, too. And then I told them that every time they got Campbell to use the potty, they'd get a treat.

That got their attention.

Now every time Campbell looks like he might need to pee, the girls hustle him into the bathroom and put him on the potty. The three of them are spending more time than is possibly healthy in the bathroom reading books and waiting for Campbell to pee.

Part of me worries that it's a really bad idea to let Campbell be potty trained by his big sisters, but then the part of me that is exhausted tells that other part to shut up. If it weren't for his sisters, Campbell might never be potty trained.

Today, though, we're all suffering from a bit of potty-training fatigue. Campbell is rebelling against his sisters dragging him to the bathroom every 10 minutes, and the girls are tired of being trapped in the bathroom reading his highness stories while he sits on his throne. And I'm tired of washing load after load of training pants and towels. Campbell's back in diapers, and we're all taking a break.

And when we get started again, I'll let the girls help and try not to worry too much about Campbell's future therapy bills.

7 comments:

knittergran said...

It IS part of your job to make sure he has something to talk about in future therapy. Otherwise, he wouldn't need therapy.
Simple...

calicobebop said...

OMG - knittergran is hilarious. Thank goodness we're supposed to screw them up a little! I was getting worried!

I'm sure the little fellow will turn out alright - at least he knows that his sisters love him!

Baino said...

Haha .. I found my son dead easy to train by putting a ping pong ball in the toilet! My daughter on the other hand was a complete failure first time round and yeh, relented and back to nappies. Good luck, I'm so glad I'm over that bit of toddler taming!

the mama bird diaries said...

Delegating parental responsibility is a must!

Wendi said...

I gotta go with your mom on this one.

Unknown said...

i let the lovely women and the screaming queen man at daycare do most of the work..so I guess my son will have lots to talk about too!!!

Cathy said...

that's so awesome your girls are willing to help!! i wouldn't feel bad about it. :)