Yes, I have been on the verge of tears this week with regards to a certain little girl and her potty training BUT it's not for the reason you might assume. My stubborn little angel who has refused to go pee pee in the potty for well over a year (for the last time she had a successful potty trip, see THIS post because I am nothing if not a dedicated mommy blogger who documents my child's bathroom progression...see first potty documentation HERE)....
well, friends....I think it is now safe to say....Amelia is officially potty trained!!!
Ok, so maybe not 100% potty trained, but definitely a good 75%.
Ok, well maybe not 75% because she still refuses to go poo poo, so maybe like 50%.
And well, if we're being honest, she does occasionally still have an accident here and there during nap time, so maybe more like 40%.
Man, that de-escalated quickly.
But whatever, I'm still elated that my girl has finally accepted the potty as a friend and not the enemy. Here's how it all went down, in case there are any other moms out their hanging on to their ever-lovin potty training sanity by a thread. I have one recommendation that seems to have worked for our girl. It was a potty training plan of master manipulation, bribery, and torment that finally did the trick, and I'm not one bit ashamed of it.
We sat down with Amelia and basically said Godfather style, "We're gonna make you an offer, you cannot refuse."
About a month ago, Amelia's dear Nana (Chris's mom) bought Amelia 2 new Barbie dolls. She showed them to Amelia and said that she could have them if she went to the potty. And until she agreed to use the potty, those Barbie dolls were going to sit on top of the fridge and wait for her.
Amelia listened to the deal that was laid out on the table. She deliberated her options and decided that it was a fair bargain, and she would take the offer under serious consideration.
Or maybe she just said, ok and went on about her business of peeing and pooping in her diaper.
But still. She knew those Barbies were up there. She glanced at them every time she was in the kitchen. Occasionally, she would remind me or her Daddy that Nana said she would get those Barbies if she used the potty, and we would nod along and tell her that's right.
Then one day, Amelia felt that old familiar feeling grumbling in her belly...
...let me interrupt this story for a moment and remind anyone reading that this is a potty post and may go into graphic details of tee tee and poopy at any moment, so continue at your own risk...
I recognized "the face" and quickly jumped into action. I asked her if she needed to go poopy, to which she replied "no! no! I'm fine, I'm fine! just go away". But I ignored her diversion attempts and basically yanked her up and forced her on the potty in mid-poop. Maybe not the best parenting strategy, but desperate times call for desperate measures. She ended up finishing the job in the potty, and even though it wasn't a total success and was totally forced and involuntary and some might say traumatizing (for everyone), we counted it as enough of a success that she was allowed to have one of the Barbie dolls.
We clapped and cheered and danced and tried to encourage her that if she uses the potty, she will be met with great excitement, fan fair, and gifts.
But did the potty usage continue? No, of course not.
Fast forward about 3 weeks. We were all moved into our new house. The potty sits in a new bathroom, untouched. The Barbie sits on a new fridge, unopened. And Amelia continues to glance at it and comment on how if she uses the potty, Nana said she could have it.
And then finally. The day arrived when the light switched just turned ON. She said she needed to go to the potty. And then SHE ACTUALLY WENT TO THE POTTY.
And the first thing she said when the tinkle hit the potty liner was, "Can I have my Barbie now?"
HA! Bribery and torment of a new toy sitting on top of the fridge actually worked! And of course we screamed and danced and high fived and got close to tears of joy.
And then, to my utter surprise and amazement, she continued to use the potty the rest of the day! Once she discovered that the potty is actually not that scary after all, she was intrigued by it. By the end of the day, she was asking for more water to drink so that she could go pee on the potty some more. It was a potty miracle!
And so now here we are with our 40% potty trained girl. And our new PJ mask toy that is sitting patiently on top of our fridge waiting for Amelia to use the potty to go poo poo.
Let's all hope and pray that another round of bribery and torment will do the poo poo trick and we can finally put an end to all this potty training madness.
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