Potty Training Blues

In my last "Thursday Thoughts", I shared that I'm currently trying to potty-train Dragon.  He's in preschool (through our public school system), and is loving it, but I really want him to be trained.  I know he's capable, but he's a wee bit stubborn.  So, while the kids are on Spring Break this week, I'm holding a Potty Training Bootcamp.  The weather is cold and windy, so I may as well take advantage of being cooped up in the house with a captive audience!  If you don't have kids, or think that I'm sharing TMI, feel free to not read this post.  But you know what they say about "writing what you know", and right now... I know Potty Training!

First of all, unless you are one of those blessed individuals with self-training children,  potty training is HELL.  It's not magical. In fact, I don't think you can get any more earthy and mundane than asking your kid every 15 seconds if they have to pee.  Yes, changing diapers is a pain, and the end result (having a potty-trained child!) is totally worth it, but the actual process is just not fun!  Also, Dragon is so much harder to train than Knight was.  For one thing, Knight could talk.  Trust me, it makes a huge difference.  Also, Knight is the type of child that wants to make his parents happy.  Dragon... marches to the beat of his own drummer.  He will be potty trained when he wants to be, and Mommy will just have to deal with it.

We're currently at Phase Two.  Yes, in an effort to make this whole thing less awful, I've broken down the process into several slightly-more-tolerable phases.

Phase I:  Letting Dragon run around the house naked.  This works really well.  We've actually tried it before (Yeah...training has been on and off for about 6 months now), and it works.  He knows where his little froggy potty is, he knows when he has to use it, and the constant breeze on his booty reminds him that he's not wearing a diaper.  He had no accidents yesterday, so I felt comfortable moving on to...

Phase II:  Running around in just underoos.  With dinosaurs on them, natch.  We've made it to this phase twice before - he did OK, but there were a few accidents.  So far so good today, but I am just waiting!

Phase III:  Fully clothed, but in easy-to-remove clothing.  Thank goodness it's warming up here!  Next week we're going to have temperatures in the 70s (Sorry to my snowbird friends.  But I love me some warm weather!)  Elastic-waist shorts are going to be my new best friends.  This will be the first phase where we can actually leave the house!  Short errands at first, then maybe a little grocery shopping, with a big bag of spare pants and underoos at my side.

Phase IV:  Jeans.  If I've managed to play my cards right with training him just as the warm weather hits, I may not have to deal with jeans for months!  Maybe even not til he turns 4!  And at the point where he can wear jeans without any accidents, I will consider him potty-trained.

Now I want to know about your experience in potty training!  Come and share your tales of woe!  If you happen to be one of the blessed and consider commenting "My little darling just woke up one day and was fully potty-trained!", do us all a favor and keep it to yourself.  But if you have any stories/hints/tips on how to potty train a stubborn three-year-old with a speech delay, by all means, share!

And now if you'll excuse me... I have to go commit some chemical warfare on a recently formed biological hazard, if you get my drift.  I sincerely hope that your day is going better than mine!  Have a happy Tuesday!