Monday, May 03, 2010

Whatevs

My almost 4 1/2 year old son asked to wear underpants this morning. I was thrilled!! He walked into the dining room and peed through his pants onto the floor. I am going to drop the whole potty training subject. I have tried EV.ERY.TH.ING. there is to try and Mommy is more than tired and frustrated. Someday Timmers will figure it out. Potty training is now on my list of things not to discuss. If I weren't so fried this post could be funny.

20 comments:

Keithslady said...

I wish it helped you to know that I'm still diapering a four-year-old who, for TWO YEARS, has been able to go everytime I sit him on the toilet. But, it won't help, not a bit.

Even if YOU can look past it other people usually can't. And they let you know it--"that boy should be trained by now", "if he's old enough to tell you he needs a new diaper he's old enough to go on his own", heard it all.

My answer (which I gave a lot because out of ten only two were under the age of three when they were trained) was always, "If he's not trained by the time he's reading I'll give him a book on the subject."

Kara Jo said...

Oh Carla, I'm trying not to laugh over here...because I so get where you are. Soooo get it.

Carla said...

Thank you Keithslady and KJ. I know that you know.

I googled
My 4 1/2 Refuses to be Potty trained and WOW! I am not alone. :)

Pat S said...

I've always thought of potty training as training him how to pee. He knows how to do that.

Carla said...

You are welcome to train your youngest and your cat on WHERE to pee.

Chris Arsenault said...

Two suggestions:

1. Box of cheerios - use them as "targets he can sink".

2. Refuse to change his underpants or wet sheets. Tell him refusal to grow up has consequences. It's not pleasant, but your point will be made loud and clear. He'll decide on his own that being clean is better than the other way.

One of our kids, as a 2-yr old, would willfully projectile vomit. I'll just say direct contact made the consequences real and it stopped the bad behavior.

Carla said...

Let me back up a tad. Tims was totally potty trained from Sept-Dec. Then he decided that no he wasn't. I did try Cheerios and now between Tims and the cat, this mom is so done with bodily fluids all over the house...diapers it is.

I thought I wasn't discussing this anymore? :)

Keithslady said...

Note: I am not discussing, not one bit. I am story-telling...

This was NOT used as a "method" to train a child. It was just life. Every Saturday all the kids got to go to the gym with Dad, except Miss-Almost-4-Year-Old-In-Diapers. Dad just didn't want to mess with the mess. Every week they'd walk out the door and he'd tell her, "You can't go because you're still in diapers". It wasn't a ploy, it was just the truth.

(By that child I'd learned my job was to get them to know what to do and where and I'd break out the underwear when they were ready (I know, a VERY lazy approach, but I needed to keep the stress levels low).)

Saturday number 3 that girl marched up the stairs as the rest of the headed out the door and demanded, "I wanna go potty, NOW!" That was it. All done diapers.

Oh yah, this was a story. "And everyone lived happily ever after.
The End"

Carla said...

Oooh. I like that story!!

M Hastings said...

Aw, Carla, it'll happen eventually. I don't know a lot of 20-year-olds in diapers ;) Don't kill yourself over it.

Karla with a K said...

Is "sharing" "discussing"?
I had one that sent me over the edge. I told Daddy he was going to have to do the potty training in the summer just like we did before, because I was nursing a baby. So when summer vacation started (he's a teacher, so he is home, too) he started painting the outside of the house. The only thing he said was, "What do you want me to do, come down off the ladder every five minutes?" Well yes, yes I did want him to come in and handle the potty training.

When my pediatricians office suggested a counselor who could get the job done in one hour, that's when I knew I had to leave it alone. And he took care of it when I stopped paying attention and when he was ready.

And today we live happily ever after. I wish my story was as good as Keithslady's.

I so understand where you're at.

Carla said...

It will happen. I am just done yapping at Tims about it and trying everything I can think of to MAKE it happen.

Janet said...

So sorry Carla.

I'm just throwing this out there....
Tell him you will buy him a toy with the money you save by not having to buy those expensive diapers.
Give him a week of dry diapers/pull-ups to get his act together. If that doesn't work, humiliation is always an option.
:)

Karla with a K said...

Hey, forgot about the positive in this.
I'm not going to say what I spent my earlier evening hours doing...
but at least he is not clogging the toilet yet ;o)

kristi noser said...

guaranteed trained by he time he's 12. No worries. He'll get tired of thise didies in due time.
Love you girl!
(get over here and pick me up)

erin said...

Karla with a K--is nursing a baby an excuse to pass on the potty training responsibilities to Daddy? I'm intrigued.

Carla said...

When Timmers put underpants on this morning I said nothing. When he wet himself I said nothing. When he changed his clothes I said nothing. When he went in the toilet twice by himself after that I said nothing. I did secretly cheer inside though. :)

erin said...

I'm cheering on the outside!!! But I'm in Roseville. I hope he can't hear me.

Karla with a K said...

woo-hoo!!!!!!!
Awesome Carla!

And Erin, I certainly thought nursing a baby warranted shirking the, I mean PASSING ON the potty training. Especially since the baby was my 4th, I was exhausted, and as I said, Daddy had the summer off, too.

My boys were always the ones who walked around the house with the pants around the ankles till they found me and said, "Mommy, I go'd pee." And instead of saying, "Well you know how to put on clean clothes," or whatever, I crumbled.

Do you ask because you got some potty trainin' on the horizon? If so, I'll keep you in my prayers ;)
If it's cutie Shirley, she might train herself. My daughter kind of did.

Karla with a K said...

oh, Erin, you can multitask the potty training and nursing. Heck throw in eating lunch and reading to the toilet sitter while you're at it.

What have I left out? Oh, you can take a phone call, too.
Anything else?