Just when you think you know it all

Well, sometimes I begin to think that I am a pretty experienced mother who knows a thing or two about parenting. Take potty training for instance. I decided after the ordeal of potty training my two oldest that I would take the advice of my sister-in-law, Bet, and wait until the child begged to be potty trained. It worked like a charm. All my children after that would potty train themselves in less than a day, because they were the ones who wanted to do it. No treats, bribes, begging, sweat, or tears.

Then along comes Andrew. It's amazing how a child who so completely captures your heart can also challenge every parenting technique you have developed.

Andrew has not had any desire whatsoever to be potty trained. None. So, after realizing that he was too big to fit in his diapers any more, and he wasn't getting any younger, I announced about two weeks ago that he would stop wearing diapers on Monday. He pretended to be on board with this idea on Saturday, and most of Sunday.

When Monday morning arrived, I put the "big boy" unders on him, and explained the new details of his life using the toilet. About an hour later, he had a crisis in his life. I've never experienced the like of it.

He decided that he needed to go to the bathroom, but he wanted a diaper. When I had him use the toilet instead, he ran to the diaper cupboard (which had been emptied of diapers), and began wailing "I'm a BABY!!! I need dipaaaaaaaahsss!" (Spoken in a baby voice) We tried to tell him that he was a big boy and he didn't need diapers any more. To which he responded with only one word: "Diiiiiaaaapaaahs!" Over, and over.

How on earth do you motivate a child with that attitude? I now had a dilemma on my hands. I knew if I gave in and let him wear diapers, I would probably be sending him off to college with a box of Huggies, but if I continued trying to convince him, it would probably be a lost cause. "He has to be motivated to do this", I told myself. "If he's this hysterical, he'll never use the toilet!" What to do?

I finally took his little tear stained face in both of my hands, looked him in the eyes, and explained to him that it was okay if he was a baby, but some babies know how to use the toilet. I told him that Aliysa was only 1 when she learned to use the toilet (I left out the fact that it took her probably the next three years to fully recover from the trauma of early potty training.)

Well, he perked up and went to play and has told me almost every time he has needed to use the toilet. I am simply astounded. He's doing great.

Another odd fact is that he is even staying dry at night. Andrew is the best sleeper I've ever known. I am not exaggerating when I say that he has probably only awakened in the night probably five times in his whole life. Even when he's sick, he sleeps until morning. Each night when he is tired, he lays down, scrunches his eyes shut, and lays there until he is asleep. I am convinced that this attribute of his was a gift to me, coming close on the heels of a trial for me of having the worst sleeper on the face of the earth (Zachary). Anyway, I was just sure that he would sleep way too deep to ever stay dry. I am happy to have been proven wrong.

So, wahoo! I am puzzled but extremely pleased. And I promise not to share details about children's bathroom habits on this blog, at least very often.