We’re trying a new potty training approach this go round: I made “Katie’s SUPER Potty Chart” out of giant yellow posterboard – it has a prominent place in the hallway. Each successful potty run results in a Dora sticker.
We’ve tried stickers before, charts before, etc. But this seems to be (gasp) working. My theory is that it’s a combination of ego (Katie’s a show off, I think the hallway poster is a big deal for her) and Dora stickers (all that commercialism is paying off). I don’t care what it is, but it seems to be working. We’ve had several successful potty runs since Saturday, every day.
Today was a banner day. Katie got up, I asked her if she wanted to go potty. She said no. I asked if she wanted a sticker, she said “YEAH!” and went running to the bathroom. She climbed on the potty and told me that she needed me to “leave her alone” while on the potty. This is her new thing. Amy wandered into the bathroom, and I told Amy to leave, that Katie needed her privacy. “Yeah,” said Katie, “I need privacy.” A few moments later, we had poop! And Katie was so excited, she insisted that we call her Granny, her Oma and her Daddy to tell them. She went potty three more times during the day. It’s a record.
My favorite moment? She yelled at me that she had to go potty… I was on the phone and hollered that it just be a minute. A few minutes later, Chris comes downstairs to tell me that since it was dark in the bathroom, Katie went potty on her little potty since she couldn’t see the toilet in the dark. Wow! She even had to make an effort on that one… I’m so proud.
Chris and I were discussing this later and noted how very different our lives have become with kids. This stuff actually constitutes real conversation now.
