Saturday, August 2, 2014

That time we potty trained a boy.

And it was, like, sooooooo much easier than potty training a girl.  I would use more "o's" in that phrase, but I think I've already exceeded the socially-approved limit.

Against the entire world of pop culture which reminds me that potty training a boy is SO.MUCH.HARDER! than potty training a girl.  Maybe this is true, but in case you had any doubts that kids have their own minds, spirits and intentions, my 22-month old little boy was all over debunking that myth.

Here's pretty much how it went:

Logan: Mommy, go potty please?
Me: Sure honey!  Oh, yep, you already took off your pants, how about that.  Let's go sit on the potty!
Logan: Otay.
....aaaaaand cue the pee pee.


That was the end of the story.

We had been talking about going in the potty for several weeks, and he was crazy excited about both the underpants that he got to pick out, and the "special potty" we picked up for his use.  I had hyped how awesome it would be beforehand, but he wasn't even willing to wait for me to be ready because he already was.

We did a three-day naked potty training marathon.  No one in or out.  We set the timer for every 15 minutes, and Logan got excited every single time that "PEEPEETIMER!" went off.  He had a few accidents at first - as in, the first morning - and then grasped the concept beautifully.

Bonus: getting to see those adorable nekkid bebe cheeks.  Seriously, I love 'em.

On days 2 and 3, we were able to go to about every 30 minutes, and he was already diligently telling me (much of the time) when he had to go on his own, outside of the timer.  It was pretty impressive.

It's been a little over a month, and that child has this concept down pat.  Seriously, easiest potty training of all time.  He still has accidents here and there, and he probably will for a while.  Because, well, let's face it: he isn't even 2 yet.

I'm definitely learning lots that I didn't know about proper boy toilet etiquette.  Like, for example, the fact that I couldn't figure out how to get him on a big potty in a public place for like two weeks without it either spraying up and over the seat, or out from between the seat and the bowl.

Turns out, there's a really simple solution, just in case you were wondering, because unlike a girl's, boys' sprayers can be aimed.  So instead of letting it hit me in the face every time while trying to avoid dropping him in the toilet, turns out, I can just point it down.  (Yes, it took me two weeks to figure that out.  Don't even say anything.)

Don't even get me started on how simple it is to have an unanticipated potty break, say, at the park or on a walk, or once, even in the parking lot at the grocery store.  Boys have it so much easier than girls.

My favorite is when people compliment me on getting him potty trained so soon.  Hah!  Yeah, because I totally had anything to do with it.

It's a lot of work, this whole potty training business... though I'm not changing diapers, there is definitely a lot more jumping up and down to help him make sure he gets on and off the potty successfully.  For the first couple of weeks, he would wake up and go even before he came to get me out of bed.  Which, as you might imagine, resulted in me being roused at 5:07 a.m. by a boy who was extremely proud of himself, shouting, "MOMMA!  POOP IN THERE!"  In there was loosely interpreted to mean partially in the bowl, all over his legs, down the wall and smeared all over the little potty, but it was hard to argue with his enthusiasm.

Now, he's getting into a much better routine and "in there" generally means the actual potty.

Plus, I got to thoroughly wash all those diapers and snap them back up for someone's tiny tushy, hopefully to be making an appearance soon.

All in all, I'm obscenely, ridiculously, over-the-top proud of this kid.  He completely mastered this big job all on his own with just a little cheerleading and extra laundry from me.  I couldn't love him any more!


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