POTTY TRAINING

yep, that picture is what you think it is. we went through three pairs of pants and underpants before noon today and there's sure to be more before the day is through.

sigh.

jack is three-and-a-half. it's beyond time for him to be potty trained. we've started and stopped, thinking he needed more time to mature. i bought potty scotty, bribed with m&m's and jellybeans and finally resorted to buying jack a play guitar to get him to pee on the toilet. but pooping? no dice. he refuses to poop on the toilet and could happily play for hours with a poop in his pull up. i've been taking a 'he won't get married in his pull up' attitude but today something snapped. i'm done with pull ups. the kid needs to use the toilet.

so today was day one of cold turkey potty training. jack had one accident this morning before we left to take kate to school. rather ambitiously, i decided to take him to target so i could stock up on undies and sweatpants (easy to get on and off). believe it or not, he actually told me he had to go to the bathroom while we were shopping. we made it to the bathroom and he peed on a public toilet for the first time. i (prematurely, it turns out) congratulated myself for nailing the potty training. and ON THE FIRST DAY, no less.

ha.

this is jack we're talking about. the boy who was supposed to be in the NICU for one week and ended up staying for five. the boy who is as stubborn as his mother. i should have known.

i let him play in the playroom for about thirty minutes before checking on him. when i shouted up the stairs, "jack! do you need to go poopy or pee pee?", he answered, "no! i already did it in my pants!"

the kid who hates to have dirty hands and cries when he clothes get dirty is the same kid who will happily play with a poop in his pants and pee running down into his socks.

tell me. HOW do you potty train a kid like that?